Trivia

Code 46 refers to the twenty-two chromosome pairs, plus the two sex chromosomes in human beings.

This movie takes place in 2050.

Mick Jones of The Clash sings the Clash song "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" in the karaoke-esque club scene, but he appears to get the words wrong. The song goes "If I go there will be trouble. If I stay it will be double", but he sings "If I go there will be trouble. If I go it will be double."

The dialogue is peppered with words from several different languages. This creates a feeling of a more amalgamated world.

Almost all of the city scenes were shot in Shanghai, but there are numerous scenes that mix Hong Kong into the Shanghai setting. Near the end, as Maria Gonzales (Samantha Morton) travels by subway to Shanghai airport to meet William Geld (Tim Robbins), the station at which she arrives is Hong Kong Airport. Later, when William is recovering in a hospital in his home city of Seattle, the city scenes shown are also Hong Kong, including Victoria Harbour and Central.