A 45-minute preview of the film was shown to the press at the Cannes Film Festival.
The sports car shown briefly in the trailer is the Cadillac Cien concept.
The black yacht in the dreams of Lincoln 6 Echo, shown later in the film (the Renovatio) is the Wallypower 118 super yacht. The boat is build almost entirely out of carbon fiber, Kevlar and glass with a teak-deck. The boat features 2 Cummins engines, each delivering 370 BHP. In addition, 3 Rolls Royce gas-turbine engines provide the speed of 60 knots cruising speed. Boat value is $25 million.
During the filming of the scene when Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor are running from the censors out of the atrium the camera operator was running with them for a tracking shot. He tripped on the dolly track, onto the camera, and was badly injured.
Just before the first car chase scene, you see a Lexus Concept Car drive past, used previously in Minority Report (2002).
The cubism style painting by Picasso at the Merrick's office is the "Femme Assise (Jacqueline)" from 1962.
The Calvin Klein poster, the Calvin Klein spot and some of the photos at Lincoln's house are authentic.
Lincoln Six Echo's counterpart, Tom Lincoln, is from Scotland and has a liking for custom sport bikes - these character traits are based on those of Ewan McGregor.
Though the city shots through the middle of the film are purportedly in Los Angeles, the city of Detroit served as the principal location for filming. Notable landmarks include the Johnny Rocket's restaurant on Woodward Avenue across from Comerica Park, the giant building mural of Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, the U.S. Federal Building, and the raised tracks of the People Mover. These shots were overlaid with CGI-produced shots of tall, futuristic buildings to create the composite city of "Los Angeles."
The Black and White commercial featuring Sarah Jordan wasn't shot specifically for the movie. It is an actual commercial starring Scarlett Johansson.
The LAPD shield that Jamie McBride holds during the chase in the building is his actual shield as a police officer.
Michael Bay drove behind a flatbed truck carrying train wheels on the highway leaving Palmdale, and, noticing how dangerous it looked, was inspired to create a destructive chase scene involving one.
While filming the highway chase, the rig carrying the jet bike reached over the highway median and destroyed a Panavision camera.
Over a third of the entire movie was shot on the new Arriflex 235 system. In July 2004 Director Michael Bay bought one directly from the Arri camera company before it shipped. After filming he called it the smallest and the lightest camera ever used since it allowed fast pans. The camera weighs at 7.7 lbs, exactly half the weight of the 435 series camera.
The buttons used to open doors in the living quarters are actually Griffin PowerMate USB Volume Controls, used normally for Mac computers to adjust volume.
During the Jet Bike chase, sound effects from the Speederbike scene in Return of the Jedi are used
In one scene in the movie, a Bugatti Veyron is seen driving down a street in the background. Currently the Bugatti is sold for $1.25 million, and only about 50 are made yearly.
Before Lincoln meets his "sponsor" he comes across several pictures of his sponsor on a motorbike. Those photos are of Ewan McGregor, taken during the making of _"Long Way Round" (2004) (mini)_ .
The phone used by Tom Lincoln is the Nokia 8800/8801 model. At the time of the movie filming this was merely a concept phone; it was subsequently mass released.
The turtle-shaped car in Tom Lincoln's display case is a model of John Cobb's 'Railton-Mobil Special', which broke the World Land Speed Record three times in 1938, 1939 and 1947. The latter record stood for nearly 16 years, when it was broken by Craig Breedlove's 'Spirit of America' jet car. Subsequent piston-engined cars have only pushed up the record by 11 m.p.h.
The gun that Jordan Two Delta finds in Tom Lincolns room is a North American Arms Guardian .380 two-tone pocket pistol. The gun that Tom Lincoln takes with him is a Makarov stainless.
Director Trademark: [Michael Bay] [360 Shot] When Lincoln and Jordan finally escape.
“The Island” was the subject of a copyright infringement suit brought by Robert S. Fiveson, director of an obscure 1979 movie The Clonus Horror (1979). Fiveson's low-budget movie starred Peter Graves and Dick Sargent, and was later parodied on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988). The lawsuit cited over 100 points of similarity between "Clonus" and “The Island”, and the court ruled that Fiveson made a prima facie case for infringement. Before the case could go to trial, Dreamworks settled with the plaintiffs to buy the "Clonus" remake rights for a undisclosed amount.