Phillip Noyce is not a big fan of his work on this film. In the wake of Se7en (1995), every studio wanted a copycat serial killer film on their books. He felt that he was just part of the assembly line by signing on to this film, knowing full well that he would never be able to match David Fincher's achievement.
In Jeffery Deaver's novel, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) was named Amelia Sachs. The filmmakers changed it, because it "sounded a lot like 'sex'".
When Angelina Jolie read the script she found that she couldn't put it down once she started reading it, saying: "I was alone in my apartment, and it scared me to death, I couldn't stop reading it, and I couldn't forget about it when I put it down, which says a lot about me, it kind of haunted me".
Phillip Noyce made a deal with the studio that if the production went over budget, he'd pay the difference out of his own pocket, and if they came in under budget, then he would get to keep half.
Phillip Noyce: (at around 1h 30 mins) A man browsing through books in the bookstore that Angelina Jolie enters.