Screenwriter Park Ji-eun began preparing the Queen of Tears project about two years after completing Crash Landing on You (2019–2020), starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin.

Lee Eung-bok, director of acclaimed works such as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Descendants of the Sun, Mr. Sunshine and Sweet Home, was reportedly in negotiations to join the production team, but the direction ultimately fell to Jang Young-woo and Kim Hee-won.

In April 2022, Park Ji-eun proposed the female lead role to Lee Ji-eun (IU), but the offer was declined; the next day, Kim Soo-hyun received the proposal for the male lead role.

This is the third collaboration between screenwriter Park Ji-eun and actor Kim Soo-hyun, following the series My Love from the Star (2013–2014) and The Producers (2015).

The first script reading by the cast took place on March 30, 2023, near Sangam-dong, in the Mapo district, in Seoul.

Main filming took place between April and December 2023, in various cities across South Korea and also in Germany.

The total budget of the series, initially estimated at over 40 billion won, ended up totaling 56 billion won, with an average cost of 3.5 billion won per episode.

Lead actor Kim Soo-hyun sang an unreleased song for the series soundtrack, something he had not done in ten years.

Song Joong-ki made a special appearance playing lawyer Vincenzo Cassano, a character from his series Vincenzo (2021), which was also co-directed by Kim Hee-won.

The final episode of Queen of Tears reached 24.9% national viewership, becoming the highest-rated series in tvN's history, surpassing Crash Landing on You, and the third highest in Korean cable television history.

The series became the only Korean production made available by Netflix since 2023 to remain 13 consecutive weeks in the Global Top 10 for non-English series on the platform.