Logan Lerman was said to have been cast as the titular protagonist because he was the only actor who could convincingly portray Sidney Hall in all of the featured stages of his life.
The film was originally going to be a Scott Free Productions project, when it was acquired in 2008. Joe Russo was to direct, Ridley Scott and Tony Scott were to be the executive producers, Michael Costigan was to be the producer and Jim Sturgess was to play Sidney Hall. Pre-production halted in 2009, however, and no development took place until the writer, Shawn Christensen, looked to take the project under his wing in late 2014.
The character played by Elle Fanning reveals to Sidney that she's a fan of Bob Dylan. Fanning later played Dylan's girlfriend in the biopic A Complete Unknown (2024).
This is the second film where Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler appeared together. The first one was Super 8 (2011) by J.J. Abrams.
This is the second film where Elle Fanning and Michelle Monaghan appeared together. The first was Somewhere (2010) by Sofía Coppola.