Trivia

Samuel Fuller didn't recognize this picture because it was re-edited by the producer. Fuller never wanted to talk about it.

According to a 1968 "Life" Magazine story, Jose Marco, Burt Reynolds's stunt double, was in the water in scuba gear alongside a subdued bull shark when a great white slipped through the nets protecting the area. It charged at the camera crew before launching at Marco and disemboweling him where he swam. Crew members tried to steer the shark away from Marco with spears, but the animal was undeterred. Marco was taken to a hospital in nearby Manzanillo, Mexico, where he died two days later. However, a detailed investigation revealed no official record of the attack, no record of a stuntman named Jose Marco, and no hospital records of the incident. "Life" had no comment.

The plot is set in Sudan, but the movie was filmed in Mexico.

Some areas advertised the film's title as "MAN-EATER" (with a tag line, "It will RIP you apart").

Many people claim that a stuntman dies on camera by the name of Jose Marco. However exhaustive research from a national diving magazine received statements from local port authorities and medical officials which denied any knowledge of such an incident. Life magazine issued a statement from the editorial department that this was a hoax (after they themselves had published the pictures believing it to be real). However it has been repeated so many times over so many years that it has now become "fact" and it appears on a number of website lists detailing stuntmen who have died.