Originally titled "Dragon Wars" (and still referred to by this title in publicity material), "D-War" has a long production history in South Korea. The film was announced in 2002 by director Shim Hyung-rae as his follow-up project to 1999's "Yonggary". The budget was set at 30 million won (approximately US$35 million), but ultimately went over budget in order to create the various creatures in the film, with some outside estimation as high as $US75 million dollars. The DVD release confirmed that it did indeed cost US$99 million.