Movie Trivia

Before settling on Mark Ruffalo for the role of Chuck Aule, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese also considered Robert Downey Jr. and Josh Brolin.

This was originally commissioned as a directing vehicle for Wolfgang Petersen. However, there were considerable modifications made to Dennis Lehane's novel in order to create a more action-driven blockbuster.

When Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, set up shop at Paramount Pictures, this was considered as a possible project for Pitt to produce and star in with David Fincher directing. After the extraordinary success of his first producing venture, The Departed (2006), Pitt decided that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese were best suited for this project.

When Paramount Pictures first developed this as a project for the director/star team of David Fincher and Brad Pitt, Mark Wahlberg was wanted for the opposite leading role (as this is a Boston-set story). However, Fincher and Pitt moved on to other commitments. Paramount almost signed on the star duo of Pitt and Wahlberg for another Boston-set drama, The Fighter (2011), a couple years later. Pitt eventually had to drop out of that project, as well.