Tour guides at Dublin Castle in Ireland say that Jackie Chan clambered onto the throne whilst filming. That made him the first person to sit on the throne since King George V.
After viewing the rough cut prepared by the director credited as Gordon Chan, Columbia Pictures brought in Doug Aarniokoski to film additional sequences and undertook an extensive re-edit of the picture.
This was the first film in which Jackie Chan utilised special effects in his fight scenes.
The shadow effect used during the sequence where Eddie (played by Jackie Chan) roughs up a thug in the sewer near the start of the film was also utilised in Enter the Dragon (1973), which likewise featured Jackie Chan and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung.
Tin-Chiu Hung: a member of the stunts team and the son of Sammo Kam-Bo Hung appeared as a policeman.
Julian Sands (credited as Snakehead) also provided the voice for the character "Valmont", the leader of "The Dark Hand", in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures (2000).
Reginald Hudlin had initially been lined up to direct, but withdrew owing to creative differences.
The extra scenes re-shot at the final stage of production featuring Jackie Chan are quite noticeable — he is wearing the same hair extensions he used whilst filming Shanghai Knights.
Throughout the film Watson (Lee Evans) keeps telling people that his family believe he is a librarian; however, during a shoot-out at his home his wife also appears to be some kind of operative, and none of this is explained in the film.
Originally titled Highbinders, the film had a very different storyline with added magical and supernatural elements. Extensive re-shoots and editing reshaped the picture, drastically altering the plot — many narrative elements were removed and new plot details introduced — leaving a fragmented and confusing final version.
The trailers indicate the film was originally slated for release by TriStar Pictures, but Screen Gems ultimately handled its distribution. Both are divisions of Sony Pictures.
