A very small part in the film has Giannis Antetokounmpo (credited as Yiannis Adeto Kunbo), along with his mother Veronica Antetokounmpo, just a few years before he become a famous NBA player.
The production shot in Paris in France for four days, Budapest in Hungary for nine days and Greece for fourteen days in both Athens and the village area of Papigo.
When director Tony Krawitz read the source book he found himself completely absorbed by it and loved its unique take on Europe. As someone who has European roots, he said ''having a story that dealt with European roots but also the darkness, the superstition and the religion and what effect that has on the contemporary world I found really fascinating, engaging and entertaining as a story.''
Three facilitating companies were used for all on the ground crew and location services in Europe in the three European nations of Greece, France and Hungary where the film shot. These were Inkas Films, Ten to Ten Productions and Pioneer Productions respectively.
The film was cast and location scouted in four countries over a six month period commencing in April 2011 and continuing through to the start of pre-production on 22nd August 2011.