The Earthling
Film Poster
Directed by	Peter Collinson
Written by	Lanny Cotler
Produced by	Samuel Z. Arkoff Elliot Schick John Strong
Starring	William Holden Ricky Schroder
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Edited by	Nicholas Beauman
Music by	Dick DeBenedictis Bruce Smeaton
Distributed by	Filmways Pictures
Release date	24 July 1980
Running time	97 minutes
Countries	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$4.5 million[1]
Box office	A$72,000 (Australia)

The Earthling is a 1980 American-Australian adventure film directed by Peter Collinson, and starring William Holden and Ricky Schroder. It was filmed in Australia in 1979, and was the last to be directed by Collinson before his death the following year.

Plot

Patrick Foley is a jaded loner who has been a drifter for much of his life. Discovering he has terminal cancer, he decides to return to the Austrailian outback where he grew up to die in solitude. His plans are interrupted however when ten year old Shawn Dailey's parents die in a horrific accident leaving the boy alone and helpless. Reluctantly, Foley teaches the boy survival and they eventually bond in love before Foley dies and Shawn begins his trek back to civilization.

Production

The film was shot from September to October 1979 in the Blue Mountains, Barrington Forest and Warrumbungle National Park. It was reported that Holden and Schroder got along while filming. Schroder named one of his children Holden in honour of his co-star.^[2]

Briann Kearney was assistant to the director.^[3]

Reception

The film drew greatly mixed reviews, with some critics reviling it, while others praised it.^{[citation needed]} It played to little notice in theatres, but later became something of a daytime staple on HBO and other cable-movie channels in the 1980s. It grossed $72,000 for box office in Australia.^[4]