Magnolia Films requested that Brian De Palma blacked out the faces of dead Iraqis in the disturbing photo montage at the end of the film. It was feared that families of the dead could sue. The genesis of the film began when HDNet Films approached Brian De Palma in 2006 to make a film with only two strings attached: it had to be shot for $5 million and on HD. Financed by Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.