Lionsgate acquired the rights to adapt Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy in October 2011, with Doug Davison's Quadrant Pictures producing.

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 2012 but left the project, which he confirmed himself during a Q&A at the 2016 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Kaufman's draft was subsequently revised by multiple writers including Jamie Linden, Lindsey Beer, Gary Spinelli, John Lee Hancock, Christopher Ford, and Patrick Ness himself, before Ness and Ford received final screenplay credit in September 2020.

Deadline reported in 2013 that Robert Zemeckis was being considered to direct the film, but he never ended up directing it.

Daisy Ridley, who joined the cast in August 2016 to play Viola, was a fan of the original books before being cast.

Óscar Jaenada was cast in October 2017 to play the character Wilf, but all of his scenes were ultimately cut from the finished film.

Harrison Osterfield makes an uncredited appearance in the film as a man from Farbranch.

Principal photography began on August 7, 2017 in Saint-Paulin, Quebec (at Le Baluchon Eco-resort) and Montreal, with additional filming in Scotland and Iceland, wrapping in November 2017.

After poor test screenings, several weeks of reshoots were scheduled, but scheduling conflicts from Ridley's commitment to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Holland's to Spider-Man: Far From Home delayed them until April 2019.

The 2019 reshoots were directed by Fede Álvarez rather than original director Doug Liman, took place in Atlanta, and added an extra $15 million to the budget, bringing the total cost to $100 million.

The film grossed only $27.1 million worldwide against a production budget of $100-125 million, resulting in a significant write-down for Lionsgate.

The Blu-ray release included 45 minutes of deleted scenes, reflecting the extensive changes made during the film's troubled production and reshoots.