James Cameron began developing the story for Strange Days around 1985, writing specifically with Kathryn Bigelow in mind to direct, and later wrote a 90-page treatment that he described as 'practically a novel' before handing it to screenwriter Jay Cocks to structure into a script, completed in 1992.

Kathryn Bigelow's approach to the film was directly influenced by her personal experience during the 1992 Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King verdict, including her involvement in the downtown cleanup afterward.

Strange Days and James Cameron's True Lies were part of the same multimillion-dollar production deal between Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Fox, though funding was split unevenly, with Strange Days budgeted at only $30 million compared to True Lies' $70 million.

Angela Bassett committed to the project early after Bigelow sent her Cameron's original treatment. Andy Garcia was reportedly close to being cast as Lenny Nero before Ralph Fiennes landed the role, impressing Bigelow with his Oscar-nominated performance in Schindler's List.

James Cameron initially felt the role of Lenny required a 'glibber and slicker' actor, but later admitted Ralph Fiennes made the character 'a sexier character — a guy you can care about very much.'

Musician Bono was originally sought for the role of Philo Gant, but the part ultimately went to Michael Wincott. Juliette Lewis was cast partly because she could sing herself, avoiding the need for lip-synching.

The film was shot entirely in Los Angeles over 77 nights; the production received special permission to shut down lanes of Sunset Boulevard for two days, though the subway scene was limited to just four hours of filming per night.

For the millennium celebration finale, over 50 off-duty police officers were hired to manage a crowd of 10,000 paid extras, and rave promoters brought in acts like Aphex Twin and Deee-Lite for a $750,000 event that had to end early after five attendees overdosed on ecstasy.

The subjective point-of-view SQUID sequences required a full year to build a specialized lightweight camera capable of holding all prime lenses while mimicking the experience of looking through someone else's eyes.

The opening sequence, featuring a stunt performer's 16-foot jump between buildings without a safety harness, took two years to coordinate and combines hidden cuts from a helmet camera during the jump and a Steadicam during the staircase run.

The scene of Iris running in front of a speeding freight train was actually filmed with the train moving backwards, and the footage was then reversed during editing to create the effect.

Michael Kamen was originally hired to compose the score, then replaced by French duo Deep Forest, whose work was in turn mostly replaced by composer Graeme Revell, fresh off scoring The Crow.

Bigelow, a fan of PJ Harvey, had Juliette Lewis perform live versions of Harvey's songs 'Rid of Me' and 'Hardly Wait' onscreen, while British band Skunk Anansie was encouraged to jam between takes for authenticity, even though they ultimately lip-synced their final performance.

A line from the film, 'Right here! Right now!', was later sampled by Fatboy Slim for his single 'Right Here, Right Now.'

Despite grossing only $17 million against a $42 million budget and nearly ending Bigelow's directing career for five years, the film later won Angela Bassett Best Actress and made Bigelow the first woman to win Best Director at the Saturn Awards, and gained a cult following over time.