Panne fatale

Kurt Russell was helicoptered in and out of the areas of shooting, so he could be with his family in Los Angeles at night. His contract had a 12 hour turnaround, meaning Kurt had to be home for at least 12 hours before leaving again to go back to the set. A private car would pick up Kurt Russell at home, drive him to the airport where he would take a private jet to a regional airport nearest to where the crew was filming. Finally, a helicopter would bring Kurt from the regional airport right to his make-up trailer. The crew would film with Kurt for an hour before lunch and at around 4pm they would have to stop shooting when the helicopter arrived to take Kurt home.

When the Jeep quits running, the odometer reads 242 miles. It has already been driven from Massachusetts to the western US desert.

The film originally had a prologue added at the behest of the producers showing Kurt Russell's character as a cameraman in a war zone. He witnesses the death of a young girl and this prompts the cross country trip with his wife to start a new job. Director Jonathan Mostow did not like the opening and asked Paramount to test screen one version with the prologue and one without. After the screenings, the studio executives agreed with Mostow and opted to remove the prologue.

Edited into Breakdown: Alternate Opening (2021)