I can only imagine the production meeting would have gone something like this: Exec 1 *snorts a bit of coke*: Okay, everybody likes WWII POW camp movies, so let's make one. Exec 2 *also snorts a bit of coke*: Yeah, but it's going to be hard to beat "The Great Escape," so we'll need a good director, maybe John Huston. Exec 1 *does some more coke*: We're going to need an international cast, some big names. We'll get Michael Cain to play the English guy and Max von Sydow to play the Nazi. Exec 2 *snorts a longer line*: Great! Now for the American, we'll get Stallone! We're gonna need a hook, though. Something to really set this film apart from all the others. Exec 1 *does a massive line of coke*: Have you heard of this guy named Pele? He's a soccer player, really famous! We get him, and have the film be about the POWs playing the Nazis in a game of soccer! Exec 2 *also does a massive line of coke*: Yeah, it'll be like "The Longest Yard" meets "The Great Escape!" We can hire a bunch of Brazilian soccer players to be the other POWs to save money on the budget! The two execs high-five one another and then proceed to go all Tony Montana on piles of coke. Yes, this is a thing that exists.
