 At one point, the head of United Artists along with fellow  executives proposed selling the movie to producer  Barry Spikings (qv) in order to rid themselves of the financial  burden and also allow Michael Cimino to finish the film any way he  liked, as long as it was not under the banner and scrutiny of United  Artists. Under the proposed deal, Cimino would have complete control  of the finished product with Spikings overseeing everything. United  Artists would have looked after the distribution rights for the film  in the U.S. and abroad. After looking at the all the financial  records for the film at that point which had reached approximately  $15 million, Spikings instantly refused to take over the project.