Trivia: Celia Weston plays Tom Cruise's mother in the movie, even though in real life she's only 10 years older than him.
Trivia: Originally, Dustin Hoffman turned down the film due to his dissatisfaction with the screenplay. Hence him being in Spain learning the Flamenco. Poor test screenings lead to him changing his mind and being inserted into the film via costly reshoots.
Trivia: Some of the crew members and background extras were also a part of the film "Repo: The Genetic Opera", which has a similar premise. Story goes that Universal wanted to make "Repo", but backed out after the producers refused to meet their demands. (Universal execs reportedly wanted to remove all the musical numbers from "Repo", even though it was by very design a rock-opera.) After leaving the project, Universal then announced this film (then titled "Repossession Mambo") and reportedly approached cast and crew members from "Repo" to come over and work on this film. The creators of "Repo" have made it clear that they feel Universal was merely trying to spite their production by poaching cast and crew members who were unaware of the falling-out between "Repo" and Universal execs.
Trivia: Josh Brolin cut his hair with a knife in order to accentuate Tom Chaney's unkempt look.
Trivia: Melissa Leo plays Mark Wahlberg's mother in the film, even though in real life she's only 11 years older than Wahlberg.