John Hughes' final film as a writer before his death in 2009. As in Beethoven (1992) and Maid in Manhattan (2002), he requested his name be removed (since so much was changed between script and movie), and is credited as Edmond Dantes, title character of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
This is the first time Seth Rogen has collaborated with someone other than Evan Goldberg, his regular writing partner, on a screenplay.
Alex Frost (Filkins) and Josh Peck (Ronnie) actually crashed the car while filming the chase scene with Nate Hartley (Wade), Troy Gentile (Ryan), and David Dorfman (Emmit).
The bodyguard interrogation scene, where the kids eventually meet Drillbit (Owen Wilson), was the first scene filmed of the whole production.
Don poses as a substitute teacher in one scene. Danny McBride, who portrays Don in this movie, actually worked as a substitute teacher before becoming an actor.