initials of which are S.O.B., a reference to his earlier film in which Andrews acted. "The whole thing was such a horrendous experience, it could have come right out of S.O.B.," said Edwards. 'In fact it inspired me to write S.O.B. 2.' Reynolds later recalled: If you could just release the announcement for City Heat and not have to look at the film, it'd be the most successful picture I'd ever been in. Blake laid out his way for Clint to play his part. To me, it was clearly apparent that Blake's way was in no way how Clint saw the part. Clint didn't say anything except his Gary Cooper comments like "Yup" and "Nope." Clint and I went home in his truck, and he still didn't say anything until we were halfway there. Finally he said "I guess this won't be the film we do together." I said "I didn't think so." Warner Bros. really wanted to make the film. I think they thought like I did that it would be one of those pictures which would look great in the catalogue...Clint likes a director he gets along with, which makes a lot of sense to me...Blake's dismissal hurt him badly. I don't think he's ever gotten over it. Eastwood was cast as the lead and received a salary of $4 million. Filming began in February 1984. On the first day, Reynolds was accidentally hit in the face with a metal chair during a fight scene. His jaw was broken, and he was restricted to a liquid diet, causing him to lose over 30 pounds by the time filming wrapped. His condition made headlines in the tabloids, which speculated he had AIDS. On Monday, September 20, 2021, an interview with the film's director Richard Benjamin was released on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast that contradicted this story of a stunt injury. Richard Benjamin said that Reynolds’ terrible jaw injury was caused when the actor fell from a make-up chair and hit his jaw. Soundtrack Clint Eastwood, a jazz aficionado, is one of the pianists heard on jazz-oriented soundtrack composed by Lennie Niehaus. Release and reception City Heat was released in United States theaters in December 1984. It grossed $38.3 million at the North American box office. For his roles in this film and Cannonball Run II, Reynolds was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Reynolds later recalled: