Morgan Freeman and Frank Grillo were originally cast.
Morgan Freeman and Nicolas Cage were offered to play Stark before Mel Gibson.
Cole Hauser and Mel Gibson previously shared some screen time briefly in Paparazzi (2004) in which Cole Hauser's character Bo Laramie attended anger management therapy and Mel Gibson was an unnamed patient sitting in the waiting room. Gibson was also one of the producers of Paparazzi.
The co-writer Daniel Adams was first set to direct the film but stepped away to direct his other script, The Walk (2022).
When Stark (Mel Gibson) introduces Becker (Cole Hauser) to another operative, he says, "I'd like you to meet Hank Burns out of SOCOM in D.C." He pronounces SOCOM (short for "Special Operations COMmand") like "Sock 'em" but as any experienced intelligence operative would know, the anagram is pronounced "SO-com", as if they were all so calm.
Stark should know that, and so should Mel Gibson, who has worked with many military leaders along the way in his career.
Stark should know that, and so should Mel Gibson, who has worked with many military leaders along the way in his career.