on a script by Dick Lochte who was a former Playboy PR executive. The film was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment, who had previously made The Eagle Has Landed. That was produced by the team of David Niven Jr and Jack Wiener, and had been successful, so ITC agreed to finance two more films from the same team, Escape to Athena and Green Ice. Grade gave the job of directing to George Costmatos who had just made The Cassandra Crossing for ITC and who Grade felt "would make a great action movie and as "action" was in vogue again I was confident we were on to a winner." In October 1977 ITC announced what was then known as The Athena Boodle as part of a $97 million slate of movies Lew Grade was making which also included The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Movie Movie (then called Double Feature), The Boys from Brazil, Raise the Titanic, The Golden Gate from the Alistair MacLean novel (never made), Love and Bullets, The Muppet Movie and Road to the Fountain of Youth with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (which was never made). Grade's first five films had been made in partnership with General Cinema Corp, but Grade would finance this slate himself. The film was also known as The Athena Crisis. Filming began in Greece on 21 February 1978. The bulk of the film was shot on the island of Rhodes. David Niven agreed to be in the film because his son produced it and he liked the idea of returning to Rhodes, where he had made The Guns of Navarone. William Holden was visiting his girlfriend Stefanie Powers during filming and was persuaded to make a cameo in the prison camp scene, presumably reprising his role as Stalag 17 escapee Sergeant Sefton. According to stuntman Vic Armstrong, the crew hated the director so much they stole his hat and nailed it to a mast. Armstrong directed the motorcycle chase which he says took two weeks. Reception Producer Jack Wiener said during the shoot that the film cost $10 million and needed to make $30 million at the box office to recoup its cost. The film was partly financed and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. Grade had wanted an action film and felt it "did not live up to expectations of the script" turning out to be "a broad comedy with