 The reason the film was made at all had to do with a survey. Warner  Bros. was preparing to release the Sean Connery (qv) James Bond  film _Never Say Never Again (1983)_ (qv) and they took a survey.  They asked movie goers to name an actor and a famous part that actor  played. Clint Eastwood (qv) as "Dirty Harry" scored so high in the  survey results, the studio told Eastwood it would be "open" to  distributing another "Dirty Harry" film. Eastwood made this film as  a result of that meeting.