Trivia / The Purge

• Author Phobia: James DeMonaco has a deep fear of firearms, and channeled that fear into the movie, stating that traditional villains are much less scary now that random people carrying guns can cause a massacre everywhere.
• Creator Backlash: James DeMonaco didn't think that the boyfriend subplot meshed with the story.
• Fake American:
  • Mary is played by the English Lena Headey.
  • Along with Zoey, who's played by the Australian Adelaide Kane.
  • The gang leader is played by Australian Rhys Wakefield.
• Executive Veto: Originally, the daughter was trying to kill the father. The studio refused to allow it, so it was changed to boyfriend attempting to kill the father.
• Inspiration for the Work: James DeMonaco got the idea for the film from a road-rage incident. He and his wife were driving on the freeway when a drunk driver cut them off nearly killing them. After both cars stopped, the other driver's lack of remorse enraged DeMonaco enough to engage in a fistfight and police eventually had to get involved. After the incident was over, DeMonaco's wife turned to him and commented how great it would be to have one free murder a year. He felt bad admitting this because she's normally a "sweet woman".
• Missing Trailer Scene: In the trailer, James scolds Charlie for letting the stranger into their home by saying: "Why did you let him into our home? We have no idea who's after him". This line does not appear in the film.
• No Budget: The film was made on a budget of $3 million.
• Similarly Named Works: The Finnish drama Puhdistus (2012), about life in Soviet-occupied Estonia, was released as The Purge in the UK, and as Purge in the USA.
• Viral Marketing: The websites for the New Founding Fathers of America.
• What Could Have Been: The gang was originally supposed to get into the house by tunneling, but this was vetoed by one of the producers as too improbable. This is mentioned in the film by James as one of the possible ways to bypass the security system