La reine Margot

Patrice Chéreau cut the film's original version (roughly 160 minutes) down to 138 minutes for international release. The reason was its disappointing box-office performance in France and criticism that the film was excessively violent and often incoherent (from Variety critic Todd McCarthy, among others). The French press sharply attacked this "American censorship" (describing the film as "revamped" for American audiences), but the new version was defended by several French critics as both more coherent and true to Chéreau's artistic vision. The shorter version was later released in France in the hope of increasing the film's box office. Twenty years later, Chéreau re-edited his film slightly and remastered it for a new Blu-ray release totaling 161 minutes. This was one of the last actions Chéreau completed before his untimely death, so it can be considered the definitive version.

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Although Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil were in their late thirties and early forties respectively when the film was shot, their real-life counterparts Margaret of Valois and Henri of Navarre were in fact only 19 years old when they married each other.

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The scene in which Margot and La Mole stand outside wrapped only in a red cloak was not in the original cut but did appear in the American release. The American distributors had insisted on making the relationship between the two characters more substantial (the romance was to be the focus of the American marketing campaign).

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In addition to all the costumes worn by the lead actors, nearly 600 extra costumes were made specially for the film in Paris. Despite their splendid appearance, the garments were mostly made of linen and cotton satin; clothes that appear elaborately worked, such as Margot's wedding dress, are in most cases only printed. Jewelry was mostly limited to pearls, and the detailed embroidery that was the norm of the period was set aside for both stylistic and budgetary reasons.

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In the year of its release, the film was the highest-grossing foreign-language film in Britain; its box-office revenue, £600,000 at the time, ranked it among the highest-grossing foreign-language films of all time in the United Kingdom.

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Monica Vitti turned down the role of Catherine de Médicis.

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Patrick Bruel shot a screen test with Isabelle Adjani for the role of Henri de Navarre and was announced to be appearing alongside her in the film, but Daniel Auteuil ultimately took his place.

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Patrice Chéreau and Jean-Hugues Anglade also collaborated on The Wounded Man (1983) and Persécution (2009).

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