Ruth Wilson was cast as Jo Durkin (who is a male character in the books), and filmed all of her scenes as Liam Neeson's partner. But director Scott Frank felt that Neeson's character should be a loner, so all of Wilson's scenes were cut.
Thanks to Liam Neeson's popularity with past action hits, the film was already in profit before release, thanks to robust sales at film markets.
Second appearance of character Matt Scudder. The first time, it was played by Jeff Bridges in 8 Million Ways to Die (1986).
The novel on which it is based is number ten in the series of Matt Scudder novels by Lawrence Block. As of 2013, there are seventeen novels by this author about the character, the latest published in 2011.