The script for Colombiana was originally based on 'Mathilda,' a screenplay Luc Besson had written as a potential sequel to Léon: The Professional.

After a disagreement with the studio Gaumont over how to proceed, Besson and director Olivier Megaton reworked the 'Mathilda' script into a standalone film that became Colombiana.

Filming began in August 2010 and took place across multiple locations including Chicago, New Orleans, Mexico, and France.

The Colombian nonprofit group PorColombia criticized the film for negatively stereotyping Colombia, with its president calling it proof of a 'total lack of creativity' in Hollywood; Zoe Saldaña dismissed the criticism as 'stupid unintelligent comments.'

Scholar David Martin-Jones noted in an essay for Senses of Cinema that the film could be seen as offering a different perspective on immigration and global wealth inequality, depicting a character from the global south wreaking havoc on the wealthy and corrupt in the global north.

A sequel, Colombiana 2, was announced as in development by EuropaCorp at the 2015 CineEurope event, and Saldaña said in 2017 she would not mind reprising her role, but as of 2025 no sequel has been made.