The early drafts for a script were written in 1977 , and the same year a team consisting of Jan Troell , the producer Bengt Forslund , the original writer of the novel Per Olof Sundman and a few other people went to Spitsbergen for location scouting . Troell was at the time in the post-production process of his film '' Bang ! '' , and when '' Bang ! '' was selected for the 1977 Cannes Film Festival , the plan was to use the festival to attract investors . However , '' Bang ! '' was poorly received and the interest faded even from the Swedish Film Institute . The project was put on hold and Troell went to the United States to direct '' Hurricane '' , an assignment he was offered after the previous director Roman Polanski had suddenly left the country to avoid sentencing for unlawful sexual intercourse with a thirteen-year-old in Los Angeles
1977 Cannes Film Festival
1977 Cannes Film Festival
Flight of the Eagle