The role of Hero was offered to Mark Wahlberg, but he turned it down. Josh Duhamel was also interested but forced to drop out for scheduling conflicts.
One of several films that Harvey and Bob Weinstein took to their new production company, the Weinstein Co., after their separation from Miramax/Dimension Films in early 2005.
The original script for the film included a lot more action spots, but producers decided they had to be cut to fit the budget.