The success of Henri Charrière's bestseller "Papillon" prompted Roger Corman and Gene Corman to produce a more exploitative version.
Following El tren de Bertha (1972), Roger Corman asked Martin Scorsese if he wanted to direct the film. Scorsese opted to make Malas calles (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.