The Ward marked John Carpenter's return to directing after a ten-year hiatus, his previous film being Ghosts of Mars (2001); it turned out to be his final directorial feature.

Carpenter said he had become burned out and had fallen out of love with cinematic storytelling, but directing the Masters of Horror episodes 'Cigarette Burns' and 'Pro-Life' reminded him why he originally loved filmmaking.

Carpenter said the script for The Ward 'came along at the right time' for him, and he was particularly drawn to the fact that the story took place within a single location.

The film was shot on location in Spokane, Washington, and at the Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake, Washington, a real operating mental hospital.

Because filming took place inside an active mental hospital, the crew was caged in during the shoot to prevent patients from intervening.

The exterior of the fictional hospital was based on the real, now-demolished McAuley hospital located in the nearby town of Coos Bay, Oregon.

The score was composed by Mark Kilian rather than by Carpenter himself, making it one of only a handful of Carpenter theatrical films he did not score, alongside The Thing, Starman, and Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

Despite premiering at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, the film only grossed $7,760 during its limited US theatrical release in July 2011, out of a worldwide gross of $5.3 million against an estimated $10 million budget.