The miniseries is based on David Cronenberg's 1988 film Dead Ringers, which itself was adapted from the 1977 novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland.

In August 2020, Amazon Prime Video gave the series a straight-to-series order, with Annapurna Television producing and Alice Birch serving as head writer and executive producer.

The series gender-flips the twin protagonists originally portrayed by Jeremy Irons in the 1988 film, with Rachel Weisz playing both Beverly and Elliot Mantle.

Rachel Weisz was confirmed to star in the series from the initial announcement, before other cast members like Michael Chernus, Poppy Liu and Britne Oldford joined in 2021.

Kitty Hawthorne served as the acting double for Beverly and Elliot Mantle opposite Rachel Weisz during scenes requiring both twins on screen.

Principal photography began by August 2021 in New York City, and four different directors—Sean Durkin, Lauren Wolkstein, Karena Evans and Karyn Kusama—each helmed episodes of the series.

The series had its world premiere at the 2023 Canneseries festival on April 15, competing in the Long Form competition, before all six episodes released on Amazon Prime Video on April 21, 2023.

Dead Ringers won a Peabody Award at the 84th ceremony in June 2024 and was named among the best TV shows of 2023 by outlets including The Guardian, Time and Variety.