The script was first offered to François Truffaut, who contributed ideas but passed to direct Fahrenheit 451 instead, and at his suggestion the writers approached Jean-Luc Godard.

Godard reportedly wanted to shoot the film in New Jersey in January to represent Texas, and when producers objected on climate grounds he retorted, 'I'm talking cinema and you're talking weather. Goodbye.' After the 1968 Oscars he sent the writers a cable reading, 'Now, let's make it all over again!'

Warren Beatty learned of the project from Truffaut while visiting Paris, then returned to Hollywood, bought the script rights, and produced the film himself.

Before directing, Arthur Penn turned down the job several times, while George Stevens, William Wyler, Karel Reisz, John Schlesinger, Brian G. Hutton, and Sydney Pollack all declined to direct.

Shirley MacLaine, Beatty's sister, was a strong contender to play Bonnie before Beatty decided to play Clyde himself; other actresses considered included Jane Fonda, Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, Sharon Tate, and Cher, who auditioned, while Beatty personally begged Natalie Wood, who declined.

Gene Wilder made his film debut in Bonnie and Clyde playing hostage Eugene Grizzard.

For the family gathering scene filmed in Red Oak, Texas, local schoolteacher Mabel Cavitt was spotted among the crowd of onlookers and cast on the spot to play Bonnie Parker's mother.

The screenwriters originally wrote Clyde as bisexual, envisioning a three-way relationship between Bonnie, Clyde and their getaway driver, but Arthur Penn convinced them to cut this to preserve audience sympathy for the couple.

Bonnie and Clyde was one of the first mainstream American films to make extensive use of squibs—small explosive charges filled with fake blood hidden under actors' clothes—to simulate realistic bullet hits, most notably in its famously graphic death scene.

Beatty wanted to shoot the film in black and white, but Warner Bros. rejected the idea; studio head Jack L. Warner was hostile to the project and complained about the costs of extensive location shooting in Texas, ordering the crew back to the studio backlot.

The banjo instrumental 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' by Flatt and Scruggs became a worldwide hit thanks to its frequent use in the film, despite bluegrass music being anachronistic for the 1930s setting.

Frank Hamer's widow and son sued the filmmakers for defamation over his portrayal as a bungling, humiliated lawman, reaching an out-of-court settlement in 1971.

Newsweek critic Joe Morgenstern initially panned the film but, after watching it again and observing an enthusiastic audience, published a second article reversing his opinion; Warner Bros. used this reversal in its marketing.

New York Times critic Bosley Crowther's harshly negative review, seen as out of step with public opinion, contributed to his being fired from the paper, while Pauline Kael's admiring New Yorker essay led to her being hired there as staff critic.

A still image of Beatty as Clyde firing a Thompson submachine gun appears briefly in the 'Storage Jars' skit of Monty Python's Flying Circus.