Filmed on-location in Broken Hill and Sydney, "Wake in Fright" was an international co-production between Australia, Britain, and the United States. Alongside "Walkabout", it was one of two Australian films to be nominated for the Grand Prix du Festival at the 24th Cannes Film Festival. Despite attracting positive reviews at the time, the film was a commercial failure in Australia, in part due to scant marketing by United Artists, as well as controversy surrounding its portrayal of outback life, including a hunting scene in which real kangaroos are shot and killed.