A more interesting aspect of the training for Richard Madden was learning how to pickpocket. Working with a consultant named, appropriately, "Keith the Thief", Madden learned sleight of hands tricks and distraction techniques. Madden said: "We wanted some of the maneuvers he pulls to be a bit flamboyant so that it reflects Michael's cockiness at his own ability. James was very keen to make sure that the stealing didn't appear to be like magic, but that it seemed realistic. So if anyone watching the film on DVD pauses and watches it in slow-motion to check it's really me doing it, I did actually do it!".

Following the terrorist attack in Nice, France on July 14, 2016 - the date of the country's national holiday, Bastille Day - which claimed the lives of 84 people and left over 200 wounded, StudioCanal permanently removed all digital advertising for the film in France. The studio announced that it would not be removing the film from theaters, but would allow individual theaters to decide whether or not they wished to continue showing the film. As the film had been released on Wednesday, 13 July, the day before the attack, and before theaters closed in France in accordance with the country's declared three days of national mourning, the only remaining physical advertisements for the film in France were the posters displayed in theaters. The studio announced that it would be left up to theaters to decide if they wanted to remove those placards or leave them up, while adding that other regions showing the film were unlikely to be affected by the changes.

For its UK DVD release, the film will have a title change. It was released in cinemas in the UK as "Bastille Day". The film has been re-titled "The Take" for DVD there, due to the real-life 14th July 2016 Bastille Day attack occurring between its theatrical and home video releases. The movie's theatrical release date had previously been pushed back from 19th February 2016 to 22nd April 2016 due to the terrorist attacks in November 2015 in Paris, France and the city's northern suburb of Saint-Denis.

Director James Watkins told lead actor Idris Elba to study great film anti-heroes like Dirty Harry (1971) and Popeye Doyle from The French Connection (1971) films before filming began.

Director James Watkins and his team were keen to shoot in unfamiliar parts of the French capital city of Paris. As well as using some of the most famous locations of Paris such as the Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre, the team shot in more obscure places including the suburbs outside Paris, and the Banlieues, the latter which house many of the city's poorest and most deprived citizens.