Development
Richard Alan Simmons's script was inspired by a real life bomb threat against the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1972, which resulted in Special forces (one SAS, two from the Special Boat Squadron and a Welsh bomb disposal expert of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps) being parachuted into the Atlantic to board and search the liner, as dramatized in the film.
The film was the second of a three-picture deal produced by David V. Picker after he resigned as head of production for United Artists (the first was Lenny). It was made by his company, Two Roads. United Artists would distribute. In November 1973 it was reported that Bryan Forbes was to direct, with Simmons producing and Richard Harris starring, with filming set to begin in January 1974.
On 6 December 1973, it was reported that Bryan Forbes had left the project - "there were minor disagreements" claimed Picker - and been replaced by Don Medford. On 5 February 1974, it was reported that Medford, too, had left the project. He was fired by Picker who was reportedly dissatisfied with the state of the script and casting.
Picker then turned to Richard Lester, with whom he had made a number of films at United Artists, notably A Hard Day's Night. "I think Dick Lester can do any picture he sets his mind to do," said Picker. Lester was finishing work on the Musketeers films in Spain when he got a call from Denis O'Dell saying "We just fired our second director and I've got a Russian ship and we've got to leave on 18 February. Will you take it on?"
Lester was attracted to the challenge of the film, saying "It shows a government governing and I knew I should show it in thriller terms. A ship had been chartered which meant that I only had 12 days before I had to begin shooting."
On taking over the film, Lester completely rewrote the script with writer Alan Plater. "I feel I'm hired to bring something of myself to an assignment and so I rewrote much of the script," said Lester. He later elaborated:
The film did have a tight structure, it's true, but it seemed to work. What interested me was its examination of the problems of a government or that men in power would face - indeed, have faced - when something like a ship and all its passengers are held to ransom. What do you risk - lives or principles? And what principles? Of course the people in the film are mostly two-dimensional but it's not always possible to give them that third dimension in this kind of thriller.
Omar Sharif, Richard Harris and David Hemmings were already cast; Lester cast the rest. "Little casting had been done and I felt there was no need to change anyone," said Lester. He wound up filming three weeks after his original call.
"I think if I'd sat carefully and thought about it I wouldn't have done it," said Lester later. "It was very exciting. And I think that energy of getting it right carried it through. It was a wonderful experience, great fun."
The film's writer/producer, Richard Alan Simmons, was so unhappy with the reworked script that he had himself credited as Richard DeKoker on the finished film.
