* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Creator/MattDamon has played someone [[Film/GoodWillHunting choosing to ignore his gifts to work at a construction site.]]
* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: The movie was pulled out of its run in Japan due to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, 2 weeks earlier than planned; the movie was released in that country on February 19, 2011, [[LateExportForYou 4 months after the movie was released in the U.S.]]. The studio eventually donated profits from the film's Blu-Ray/DVD sales to humanitarian aid.
* [[PlayingAgainstType Directing Against Type]]: Creator/ClintEastwood is not known for either ensemble dramas, disaster sequences, ''or'' supernatural stories. Screenwriter Peter Morgan is more well known for writing {{biopic}}s like ''Film/FrostNixon'', ''Film/TheQueen'', and ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.
* ProductionPosse: This is Clint Eastwood's second consecutive film with Matt Damon after ''Film/{{Invictus}}''.

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