The opening sequence is an introduction added by Sir John Boorman, at the request of Twentieth Century Fox executives, to help the audience understand this movie.
According to writer, producer, and director Sir John Boorman, Sir Sean Connery had a very hard time finding work after "Diamonds Are Forever (1971)." Boorman was allegedly able to hire Connery for $200,000.
A real baboon on the set attacked a double, dressed in an ape suit who was portraying a baboon.
To help keep costs down, Sir Sean Connery used his own car and drove himself during the production. Sir John Boorman then gave him half the money that had been budgeted to hire him a car and driver. The idea was Connery's, according to Boorman.
Writer, producer, and director Sir John Boorman made this movie after an early attempt to film J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" was canceled. Studios balked at the projected cost of the project as he envisioned it. When the same thing happened to Boorman again several years later, he made Excalibur (1981) instead.
John Boorman: The slave forced into farming, whom Zed shoots. Boorman was shot with a blank, but wadding became embedded in his forehead, and took several days to come out.