- Edward Norton made it clear that his participation is a result of contractual obligation, not choice. He signed a three movie deal with Paramount, of which Primal Fear (1996), his breakthrough movie, was the first. He kept dismissing scripts for the other two, until Paramount coerced him into accepting a role in The Italian Job.
- While the thieves are spying on Steve Frezelli in his home, Michael Caine is seen on the large screen television in a clip from the original movie Alfie (1966).
- Lyle (Seth Green) claims he was the creator of Napster, and that Shawn Fanning stole it from him. It shows a flashback of Lyle sleeping, and a person taking a disk out of the PC that has Napster on it. The person is really Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster. When he steals the disk, the bottom of a Metallica poster can be seen on the wall. Metallica were vocal critics of the original Napster.
- Two electric-powered Mini Coopers, and one Mini Cooper S had to be specially built for the film, since gasoline-powered vehicles are not allowed to operate in L.A.'s subway system.
- The red Mini Cooper driven by Stella at the beginning of the film is a nod to the Mini Coopers from the original The Italian Job (1969). It is a vastly different model to the one featured in the original, though, being a late Rover-produced model made in the late-'90s, not an Austin Mini Cooper Mk1 as was used in the original film.
- Paramount was unsatisfied with the film's box office performance on its first run and had it re-released in theaters in late August 2003.
- In interviews, Jason Statham said that in addition to the stunt driving course they all received, he got two days' driving tuition from Damon Hill, the British ex-world champion Formula 1 driver. However, all the cast members acknowledged that Charlize Theron was easily the best driver among them.
- 32 Minis were used throughout the shooting.
- A MINI with two steering wheels was used for some of the shooting in order that a stunt driver could drive the car whilst one of the actors performed in front of the camera. This unusual car is now a part of the MINI factory tour in Cowley, Oxford.
- The principal actors in the movie did most of the stunt driving themselves. Whilst all of the principals needed stunt driving lessons - Mos Def needed a little more work because he didn't have a driving license at the outset of the production.
- Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) and Canada's Wonderland (Toronto, ON) opened The Italian Job: Stunt Track attraction in May 2005. Kings Dominion (Doswell, VA) added the ride in summer 2006. The ride is based on the chase sequence of the 2003 film. The ride is a heavily themed roller coaster, in which the coaster trains are scaled MINI Cooper S Convertible models.
- The White MINI was custom painted into a 'Pepper White' MINI with a pure white roof - this is not a color combination that is made for the MINI. The 'Chili Red' and 'Indy Blue' MINI's both have custom black door mirrors and white roofs. In reality, MINI's come with door mirrors that match the body color, or mirrors can be ordered to match the roof color.
- James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote the first draft of the screenplay, a fairly faithful translation of the original with a prologue set in World War II in which Charlie Croker's father tries and fails to recover the gold (tying the film in with Troy Kennedy-Martin's other heist film Kelly's Heroes (1970)). A new story was commissioned from writing team the Powers that relocated the action to L.A. Early posters and the trailer still credited Purvis and Wade as co-writers.
- Screen writers Donna Powers and Wayne Powers say in an interview featured in the DVD that they hadn't watched the 1969 original movie before agreeing to write the script. After that, they only watched it once. This was on purpose because they didn't want to copy the movie, they wanted to make their own movie inspired by the original one.
- For the first time in cinematic history, the production shut down Hollywood Boulevard and Highland for seven days for the shooting, according to director F. Gary Gray in an interview featured in the DVD.
- The Metro tunnel set was so huge that it wouldn't fit in any soundstage in Los Angeles. It was built in the hangar where the first space shuttle was assembled. They used every inch available in that hangar.
- While Charlie Croker's line: "You ready to create the biggest traffic jam in the history of Los Angeles?" appears in the trailer, it doesn't appear in the theatrical release.
- In the original script, "fine" stood for Fucked-Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional.
- In an Easter Egg on the DVD, Seth Green improvises different versions of his mocking commentary as Handsome Rob (Jason Statham) seduces the cable TV repairwoman.
- A scene with Grant Show as Stella's date in a bar was filmed but cut from the theatrical version. The scene can be found on the DVD.
- The NetCom Cable van shows the phone number 1-800-555-0199. This is the same number that Al Pacino in The Insider (1999) and Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999) have.
- The Venice authority allowed the crew to go over the speed limit for the boat chase sequence.
- During the getaway, the helicopter pilot did actually fly under the bridge. You can find this on the DVD Special Feature.
- Charlize Theron got two speeding tickets, both for going more than 40mph over the speed limit, during the filming of this movie. She said that after filming driving so fast, she just couldn't get her speed down to drive home.
- After the crew have stolen the gold in Venice and are discussing their shopping lists, 'Handsome Rob' says he is going to buy an Aston Martin Vanquish. Although Steve has a Vanquish (The Green car in the courtyard of his house when Stella goes to repair the TV) Handsome Rob actually drives an Aston Martin DB7 Volante at the end of the movie, an older and totally different car to the Vanquish.
- Lyle's girlfriend at the end of the movie is played by Kelly Brook, Jason Statham's actual girlfriend at the time of the movie.
- For enhancing the body height Mark Wahlberg used high heeled shoes through out the movie. However in the opening introduction scene with Donald Sutherland and the two basketball scenes with Jason Statham and Seth Green he used normal shoes.
- (At 85:38) Just before the armored truck drops when they blow the explosives on the street, a person in a Spider-Man costume can be seen reacting amongst the civilians.
- Cameo: [Tim Roth] The man in the truck Edward Norton steals at the end of the bridge scene
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: After stealing the gold back from Steve, Handsome Rob buys an Aston-Martin. After being released from prison, Michael Caine picks up an Aston Martin from a parking garage in The Italian Job (1969).
- SPOILER: Originally the getaway was a much longer sequence in which a bullet-wounded Handsome Rob reluctantly hands over the driving to Left Ear, despite the fact that he can't drive "stick". After narrowly avoiding pedestrians at the Staples Center, getting stuck in traffic in Downtown L.A. and driving into a shop window, Rob takes over the driving. Some footage from this sequence appears as deleted scenes on the DVD release.
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