Steven Spielberg had developed the story of a flyer with a young son, containing themes that interested him: aircraft and flying and parental responsibility. He developed the premise with fellow Cal State alumni Claudia Salter, and hoped to direct it himself, but Richard D. Zanuck, who was then the president of 20th Century Fox, declined to hire Spielberg as director. Producers Robert Fryer and James Cresson hired John Erman to direct because he was older. The film originally ended with Eli committing suicide, but the studio recut it to give it a happier ending. Spielberg was so displeased by the film that he publicly complained it had been "turned into a really sick film. They should bury it." Spielberg would not make a film for Twentieth Century Fox until 2002's "Minority Report" (even then, this was a co-production with DreamWorks).