Part of this movie was filmed in an abandoned prison in Gloucester, UK.
When the movie was first announced, Josh Brolin, Luke Evans, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Olivia Munn, and David Oyelowo were cast in the lead roles.
This is Joel Kinnaman and Common's third feature film collaboration, after Run All Night (2015) and Suicide Squad (2016) (though they share no scenes in the latter).
Filming took place at Bethesda Terrace and Fountain in Central Park, New York.
The tattoo on Pete's chest, seen when he enters prison, translates to "Before you fell, you crossed the ground with your hand. Was it a bullet, my boy, or was it the heart that broke?" This is an excerpt from the poem "Elegy for a Polish Boy" ("Elegia o chlopcu polskim") by Krzysztof Kamil Baczynski. The poem reflects on the tragic fate of a young boy who fought for his homeland during World War II. The uncertainty of whether it was a bullet or a broken heart adds to the emotional weight of the verse. Polish people tend to embrace the tragic history of their country.