The combination to unlock the nuclear suitcase is 08061945 (August 6, 1945), which is the date the United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.
The President's opponent in the election is named Trump.
The film takes place in 2008.
Originally developed as a made-for-TV movie to air on Showtime.
Rod Lurie came up with the film's idea after spending a lot of time watching CNN at home while writing a few other scripts. When he saw that there had been serious crises involving both Iraq and North Korea that happened some time from each other and both nearly resulted in war, he thought it was a good basis for a film about how multiple same time international crises could lead to impossible choices for a U.S. President.