Director Stephen Frears had the idea to make a film about Lance Armstrong after reading a review of Tyler Hamilton's book, The Secret Race.

[7] Unable to acquire the rights for Hamilton's book, he settled on Walsh's Seven Deadly Sins instead.

[9] Hodge has said that he based his screenplay primarily on Seven Deadly Sins, in addition to other journalism and affidavits from cyclists.

The site's consensus reads, "Ben Foster's impressive efforts to channel Lance Armstrong are often enough to power The Program past director Stephen Frears' frustrating unwillingness to delve deeper into its real-life story.

"[19] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".