A more interesting aspect of the training for Richard Madden was learning how to pickpocket. Working with a consultant named, appropriately, "Keith the Thief", Madden learned sleight of hands tricks and distraction techniques. Madden said: "We wanted some of the maneuvers he pulls to be a bit flamboyant so that it reflects Michael's cockiness at his own ability. James was very keen to make sure that the stealing didn't appear to be like magic, but that it seemed realistic. So if anyone watching the film on DVD pauses and watches it in slow-motion to check it's really me doing it, I did actually do it!".
Following the terrorist attack in Nice, France on July 14, 2016 - the date of the country's national holiday, Bastille Day - which claimed the lives of 84 people and left over 200 wounded, StudioCanal permanently removed all digital advertising for the film in France. The studio announced that it would not be removing the film from theaters, but would allow individual theaters to decide whether or not they wished to continue showing the film. As the film had been released on Wednesday, 13 July, the day before the attack, and before theaters closed in France in accordance with the country's declared three days of national mourning, the only remaining physical advertisements for the film in France were the posters displayed in theaters. The studio announced that it would be left up to theaters to decide if they wanted to remove those placards or leave them up, while adding that other regions showing the film were unlikely to be affected by the changes.
For its UK DVD release, the film will have a title change. It was released in cinemas in the UK as "Bastille Day". The film has been re-titled "The Take" for DVD there, due to the real-life 14th July 2016 Bastille Day attack occurring between its theatrical and home video releases. The movie's theatrical release date had previously been pushed back from 19th February 2016 to 22nd April 2016 due to the terrorist attacks in November 2015 in Paris, France and the city's northern suburb of Saint-Denis.
Director James Watkins told lead actor Idris Elba to study great film anti-heroes like Ispettore Callaghan: il caso 'Scorpio' è tuo!! (1971) and Popeye Doyle from Il braccio violento della legge (1971) films before filming began.
The actors did most of the stunt work, including the fight scenes. Not having to cut between the actors and stuntmen was a way of keeping the film grounded in reality. Stunt Co-ordinator James O'Donnell worked for several weeks with the actors, preparing them for the scene. He would cut the action into manageable parts and then design the choreography of the fight and the actors would train together until they were completely in sync. These stunt scenes required maximum commitment from the two actors. Actors Idris Elba and Richard Madden felt it was imperative they prepare fully for the roles both physically and emotionally and spent many hours in training so they were in peak physical shape for the action scenes. Elba said: "Jimmy O'Dee [James O'Donnell], the stunt co-ordinator, was really specific about being fit. I've never done a film with so many fight sequences before, and I loved it. I have a little martial arts training so it was great fun for me to exercise some of my knowledge. I think the film definitely attempts to be as raw in the fight sequences as we can get. Scrappy was the word I kept hearing. I mean it really feels like you're in there."