Trivia: Stay for the outtakes after the film.
Trivia: This was the final movie starring Robin Williams to be released during his lifetime.
Trivia: When the mayor is giving his presentation about the plans for new development, one of the men is fiddling with a tiny black model car. He causes it to pop a wheelie and cruise down the model street; just like the black Dodge Charger Vin Diesel popped a wheelie in during his climactic race with Paul Walker, who also stars in this movie, in The Fast and the Furious.
Trivia: The original black Jaguar XJ6 Series III car, as used in the TV series of the same name, makes a cameo appearance in the background of the scene where McCall tortures the corrupt cop.
Trivia: When Ben gets shot during the video game he is playing, he lets out a Wilhelm scream.
Trivia: Katie Holmes plays Brenton Thwaites' mother in the film, even though in real life she's only 10 years his senior.
Trivia: Mall security guard George tells Zack and Donny that he is not a jerk - he is a "Mastermind." Grumpy Cat thinks, "Oh no, yeah, you're a limp short of being Keyser Soze." Keyser Soze refers to the main antagonist (played by Kevin Spacey) in "The Usual Suspects" (1995). (01:01:10)
Trivia: After posting Obama signs in yards, Mason Sr got into his car and told Mason and Samantha, "Look, I'm a patriot, all right?" He drives away but the camera stays fixed on the now-visible Jeep parked on the opposite side of the street. This appears to be showing another kind of "Patriot" [Jeep Patriot], but it is actually a Liberty. (01:02:59)
Trivia: Originally intended for theatrical release, this film ultimately had to be released through streaming after the North Korean government threatened to retaliate against the United States. A cyber crimes group allegedly tied to North Korea also hacked Sony's emails and made threats against theaters that had planned to show the film.
Trivia: Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon was a fan of the novel and purchased the rights, intending to play the role of Amy herself. However, once David Fincher was attached as director, she opted to serve only as a producer, realizing she wasn't right for the role.
Trivia: Paul Jesson and Timothy Spall play father and son in this film. In real life, Jesson is only ten years older than Spall.
Trivia: Part of the inspiration for the film came from a friend of writer/director Jennifer Kent. Her friend, a single mother, had a young son who like many children was terrified of non-existent "monsters" he thought were lurking in his home. Kent then had the idea to turn this into a film. What if a child was terrified of monsters lurking in their closet, under their beds, etc... except they were real?
Trivia: Directors Kevin Finn and James Rolfe grew up watching cheesy B-movies, and decided to model this film after the low-budget nature of such productions. Hence, they included frequent convoluted plot-twists and purposely-bad special effects. (Such as low-quality miniature models.) However, while most audiences understood that the low-quality of the effects were part of the "joke" of the film, some audiences failed to realize this, and the film received some initial backlash online from people complaining about the effects, not realizing it was intended to look cheap and silly.
Trivia: The fancy Mercedes is not "the only one in America" (as John Madec said on the movie) but the only one in the world. The car was borrowed for the purpose of the movie by one of the owners of the Formula One team McLaren and was shipped by air from Germany. Hence German licence plates often seen during the film.