Elizabeth Olsen did not know the ending of the film until she watched it for the first time at the New York City premiere. "I've never been more shocked and surprised by an ending since maybe like Sixième Sens (1999)," Olsen said. "No one spoiled it for me. No one hinted at it for me. And I got to experience it with just a blank canvas."
Director Spike Lee said that his version of the film was 140 minutes long (mostly character build-ups and interactions), but the studio heavily edited it down to 104 minutes, cutting out over 30 minutes of footage. Lee disowned the film as a result. This is why the film opens with "A Spike Lee Film" instead of his more personal trademark "A Spike Lee Joint". Josh Brolin preferred Lee's version.
In an interview given on November 2014, Josh Brolin expressed his dissatisfaction with the final result of the movie, especially when compared with the 2003 version.
(at around 53 mins) The hallway fight scene was done in one take, but it was edited for the final cut.