Opening Weekend: $1,214,767 (USA) (15 November 1981)
Gross: $2,104,164 (USA) (22 November 1981)
Cast
Actor
Character
Robert Duvall
Gruen
Treat Williams
D.B. Cooper
Kathryn Harrold
Hannah
Ed Flanders
Brigadier
Paul Gleason
Remson
R.G. Armstrong
Dempsey
Dorothy Fielding
Denise
Nicolas Coster
Avery
Cooper Huckabee
Homer
Howard K. Smith
Howard K. Smith
Christopher Curry
Hippie
Ramon Chavez
El Capitan
Stacy Newton
Cowboy
Pat Ast
Horse Lady
Jack Dunlap
Drinking Buddy
Brad Sergi
Drinking Buddy
Michael Potter
Pilot
Charles Benton
Sharpshooter
Mike Casper
Bomb Squad
James Lee
Bomb Squad
Henry Kendrick
FBI Agent
James Wiers
FBI Agent
Mark Jeffreys
FBI Agent
D.G. Smilnak
FBI Agent
David Adams
FBI Interviewer
Charles Haigh
Navigator
Stephen Blood
Co-Pilot
Tommy Ciulla
Boy Friend in Stream
Karen Newhouse
Girl Friend in Stream
Richard Brown
Crop Duster Man
Michael O'Hare
Car Owner
Robert Sola
Ranger
Tom May
Copter Pilot
Sanford Gibbons
State Trooper
Lynn Radcliffe
Cop at Luncheonette
Mearl Ross
Indian Father
Patrick Garcia
Indian Boy
Gregory Suke
Indian Boy
Jessica Garcia
Indian Girl
Leigh Webb
Bartender
Jim Clouse
Saloon Man
David Falkosky
Saloon Man
John Herold
Saloon Man
Bill Townsend
Saloon Player
Christine Dolny
Child
Michael Goodsite
Child
Glenda Young
Avery's Secretary
Dave Gilbert
Person-on-the-Street
Bill Wittman
Person-on-the-Street
Conrad Marshall
Person-on-the-Street
Roy Lewis Garton
Airline Passenger (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
Sound recordist Duncan McEwan had just taken up the sport of skydiving the previous year, and was used to create the sound effects for the skydiving scene. All of the Foley work involving the use of the parachute gear was done with his personal rig. He also made one skydive with a recorder to record the sound of parachute opening, though the recording was not used. It was used, however, on CHiPs (1977) episode "Bomb Run", and was added to the MGM sound effects library.
The true hijacker, of which this movie is based upon, never used the alias D.B. Cooper. Instead he used "Dan Cooper". D.B. Cooper was the name of a person the police checked out, in case the hijacker had stupidly used his own name. The media got hold of the info that the police were checking out the rap sheet of a "D.B. Cooper" and the name has stuck ever since.
During the chase, the left wheel is wrenched off the biplane after D.B. uses it to pierce the roof of a car. But in later scenes, the biplane appears with its right wheel missing.