Began principal photography in September 2003, exactly 50 years after the original On the Waterfront (1954) started filming.
On the Waterfront (1954) director Elia Kazan died in Manhattan on 28 September 2003, the same day that principal photography for this movie was completed in Brooklyn.
The title comes from a quote in the original On the Waterfront (1954) screenplay by Budd Schulberg, "...goes off with his shoulders bent over and his head down, like some mournful bird."