The film was ultimately green-lit by United Artists by a misunderstanding of sorts. Mike Medavoy was the United Artist's top man in Los Angeles, and he loved the project, but he needed to convince the head office in New York City. Arthur Krim, United Artists CEO at the time, said he'd consider it, but he wanted to know more about the writer Sylvester Stallone, who was also going to star. Stallone had recently appeared in a film called "The Lords of Flatbush (1974)," where he had also gotten a writing credit for 'additional dialogue'. Medavoy thought Stallone was excellent in the piece, so he sent a copy of the film to New York City, and told them to watch it. The film is about a Brooklyn street gang, and alongside Stallone, it featured unknowns Perry King, Henry Winkler and Paul Mace. During the screening, Krim asked the executives viewing the film, "Which one is Stallone?", and someone told him that it was the blond kid (actually Perry King). Krim pointed out that that guy didn't look Italian, and Stallone was an Italian name, to which he was told Stallone must be from Northern Italy, where there are a lot of blue eyed, blond haired Italians. Krim thought about this for a moment and then announced that he liked this guy Stallone (still talking about King), and so he green-lit the movie. Several months later, when he realized his mistake, Krim was far from amused.