Trivia / Payback

• Deleted Scene: There was originally a scene where Porter rips out the eye of one of the guards in the Outfit's building where his ex-partner Val is. For some reason, this scene was not included in the theatrical nor Director's Cut of the movie and is only available in a very rare, bad quality, workprint.
• Executive Meddling: Although credited as director, Brian Helgeland's cut of the film was not the theatrical version released to audiences. After the end of principal photography, Helgeland's version was deemed too dark for the mainstream public. Following a script rewrite by Terry Hayes, director Helgeland was replaced by the production designer John Myhre, who reshot 30% of the film, cutting in the process the entire third act. The intent was to make the Porter character accessible. The film's tagline became: "Get Ready to Root for the Bad Guy." A potentially controversial scene between Porter and Lynn which arguably involves spousal abuse was excised and more plot elements were added to the third act. After 10 days of reshoots, a new opening scene and voiceover track also were added, and Kris Kristofferson walked on as a new villain.
• Release Date Change: The film was supposed to come out in mid-1998. However, post-production complications and reshoots, as well as an effort to ensure it would not go head-to-head with Mel Gibson's own Lethal Weapon 4, led to its delay to February 1999.
• Spared by the Cut: Possibly. Porter clearly has a Happy Ending with Rosie in the theatrical cut, while in the Director's Cut it's left ambiguous as to whether he'll survive his wounds or not.

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