Though Lady Macbeth's nationality is never mentioned in the original play, it is presumed that she is Scottish. For the film, Marion Cotillard kept her French accent. Producer Iain Canning explained that her casting added another layer to the film. "It has allowed us, at the center of this story, to place a character who has an otherness, there's a slight sense of separation now, in Lady Macbeth, that she exists in the community but somehow has a slightly different agenda to the other women in that community. It adds complexity to the Lady Macbeth role", he said. Scotland had many French Consorts, so it would have been plausible for Lady Macbeth to be French.
Justin Kurzel revealed that Michael Fassbender had read the script more than 200 times before their first read-through.
Visibility was so poor at the Isle of Skye during filming in early February 2014 that Marion Cotillard strayed into a bog and disappeared from view. It took two crew members to fish her out while the mud sucked at her feet.
The film received a 10-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening at the 68th Annual Cannes Film Festival.
During the press conference for this film at the Cannes Film Festival, Michael Fassbender stated that Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (1957) is his favorite Macbeth adaptation.