Burt Reynolds suffered a serious accident and had his jaw broken when he was hit in the face with a metal chair while filming a fight scene on this movie. Reynolds was restricted to a liquid diet and lost over thirty pounds by the time this movie wrapped. The accident had dire consequences for Reynolds' next movie project, "Stick (1985)." In that movie, Reynolds looked underweight, weak, and thin, and this condition was because of this accident. Apparently, the accident led to Reynolds becoming addicted to painkillers.
When this movie was made and released, its stars, Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood, were two of the biggest box-office stars in the world. This movie is notable for their star-teaming here. Eastwood only agreed to do this movie under the agreement that he would be paid more than Reynolds, and that his name would appear first in the credits.
According to Burt Reynolds in his memoir, Clint Eastwood actually orchestrated the removal of Blake Edwards by goading him into quitting, in favor of Richard Benjamin, a less intense and less expensive director.
Burt Reynolds had initially suggested Richard Kiel, his longtime friend and co-star from "The Longest Yard (1974)" and "Cannonball Run II (1984)," for the part as the villainous thug Troy Roker. But Clint Eastwood refused because he had the intention to use Kiel in his next movie, "Pale Rider (1985)."
Second theatrical movie for Robert Davi (Nino) whose work had mostly been in television except for Gangster Wars (1981). Original director Blake Edwards hired Davi to play the main villain after seeing him in The Gangster Chronicles (1981). But after Edwards left the project, Davi's role was reduced considerably.
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