Trivia: Due to the political situation in Iraq, the location for scale shots was moved from Morocco to Mexico, an ideal alternate choice with its broad beach. However, the rushed decision presented some obstacles. Coastal Mexico is an endangered turtle habitat, so to be granted permission to set up the Greek encampment and build boats on the large stretch of beach, the film crew implemented their own turtle incubation nursery, releasing a multitude of turtles while on location in Mexico. They also did not have an accurate idea of the physical conditions of that particular beach - it was unstable and 100 feet of beach washed away overnight, leaving Greek ships teetering precariously on the edge of the bank with the missing sand.
Trivia: In one scene Paul is listening to the radio and a broadcast of the debate about whether what was happening in Rwanda was considered genocide. During the conflict there was a news conference that was very similar to the one on the radio. One of the reasons that the US and UN would not label (or appear to label) the situation as genocide was that under legal obligations they would have had to act to prevent and punish the perpetrators if they said what was happening in Rwanda was genocide.
Trivia: Even though Angelina Jolie plays Colin Farrell's mother in the movie, she is only a year older than Farrell.
