Trivia / Black Sunday (Thomas Harris)

• Actor Allusion: At one point in the film, Lander (played by Bruce Dern) whistles "Easy Come, Easy Go". The song was the theme of the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (which also costarred Dern).
• Creator Backlash: While Bruce Dern has said he's proud of his work in the movie, he feels the movie is like a textbook for terrorists to follow.
• Dueling Movies: With Two-Minute Warning.
• Fake Nationality: Non-Jewish Englishman Robert Shaw plays Israeli Mossad agent David Kabakov. The Palestinian terrorists are played by Marthe Keller (Swiss), Bekim Fehmiu (Albanian), and Michael V. Gazzo (Italian-American). The Egyptian Colonel is played by German actor Walter Gotell.
• Shoot the Money: Much of the footage used was shot during Super Bowl X.
• Similarly Named Works: With the 1960 horror film.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Both Major Kabakov and Agent Corley die when the blimp explodes in the finale. Both characters survive in the film.
• Those Two Actors: Walter Gotell and Robert Shaw both appeared in From Russia with Love.
  • Marthe Keller and Fritz Weaver both appeared in the previous year in Marathon Man, though as with that film, they don't share any scenes together.
• What Could Have Been: Gene Hackman was considered for David Kabakov.
  • James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Jack Nicholson were considered for Michael Lander.