When the project was announced, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ansel Elgort, and Zendaya were cast in the lead roles. All dropped out after the project was stuck in development for several years. The roles later went to Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, and Jenna Ortega.
Brian Helgeland first wrote the script in 1995 and Heath Ledger was originally attached at one point.
This is Ben Foster's second action/thriller set at sea with the word "finest" in the title, after The Finest Hours (2016).
Both Ben Foster and Aaron Stanford, who are in this movie together, were also in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In that movie, Foster played Angel, and Stanford played Pyro.