The success of Henri Charrière's bestseller "Papillon" prompted Roger Corman and Gene Corman to produce a more exploitative version.
Following Boxcar Bertha (1972), Roger Corman asked Martin Scorsese if he wanted to direct the film. Scorsese opted to make Mean Streets (1973) instead.
Franklin J. Schaffner was in the midst of making his version of Papillon (1973) when this film went into production. His producers tried unsuccessfully to file for copyright infringement.