William Diehl, the author of the "Sharky's Machine" (1978) source novel, has said that he had Burt Reynolds in mind when he wrote the novel.
When Clint Eastwood made the comedy Der Mann aus San Fernando (1978), Burt Reynolds reportedly said to him, "Clint, you're getting into my territory [comedy], and if it's a success, I'm going out and make 'Dirty Harry Goes to Atlanta'!". When Sharky und seine Profis (1981) went into production, Eastwood sent a telegram to Reynolds saying, "You really weren't kidding, were you?" Reynolds has described this movie as 'Dirty Harry Goes to Atlanta' whilst many reviewers and critics have likened it to the 'Dirty Harry' film series.
After William Diehl's "Sharky's Machine" novel was published, three people sent Burt Reynolds a copy of it. They were Tom Culla, novelist Sidney Sheldon and the author of the book himself, William Diehl.
This was the first major movie for actress Rachel Ward who had previously only worked in television and on one smaller film, Terror Eyes - Der Frauenköpfer (1981).
William Diehl: The author of this movie's source novel "Sharky's Machine" (1978) in a small role as Dominoe's pimp Percy.
Forrest Sawyer: The newsreader of CBS, ABC and NBC Nightly News fame as a news announcer appearing near the end of the film. All of the newsreaders in the film are local Atlanta newscasters.