The real George Jung was released from prison on June 2, 2014, to reside in a San Francisco halfway house. He was due to be freed in November, but was released early after fulfilling a plea bargain by testifying against his co-conspirators.

A lot of Johnny Depp's dialogue was improvised, including the scene where they are trying to find a place to put all their money from selling coke and his line "We're gonna need a bigger boat" (a quote from Jaws (1975)), which itself was improvised.

According to the director's commentary, the tape that George Jung leaves for his father near the end of the movie is a verbatim transcript of a tape that the real George Jung recorded under similar circumstances.

To prepare for the role, Johnny Depp interviewed the real George Jung in prison.

Rachel Griffiths plays Ermine Jung (George's mother). The actress is five years younger than Johnny Depp (George).