 Producer Paul Gurian had bought the rights to Newton Thornburgs  novel and asked screenwriter Jeffrey Alan Fiskin if he could adapt  it into screenplay form. Gurian got the studio, EMI, interested in  financially backing the film with Robert Mulligan to direct and  Dustin Hoffman to play Alex Cutter. However, a scheduling conflict  forced Hoffman to leave the project. This prompted Mulligan to leave  as well. To make matters worse, EMI pulled their money once Mulligan  and Hoffman left the project. Gurian then took the film to United  Artists where the studios vice president, David Field, became  interested in backing it.