Fail Safe was released on 7 October 1964.
The film was based on the 1962 novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, and when Stanley Kubrick learned that it was being adapted for the screen, he became concerned that the movie would compete with his Dr. Strangelove (which was in production when development of Fail Safe began at the same studio). Kubrick became increasingly worried when Sidney Lumet was hired as director, Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau as stars.
Kubrick and Peter George (one of the screenwriters on Dr. Strangelove) filed a lawsuit claiming that Burdick and Wheeler had violated copywright on George's 1958 novel Red Alert (released as Two Hours to Doom in the UK), with the two novels sharing a basic plot. The lawsuit was settled, with Columbia pictures agreeing to release Dr. Strangelove first. Kubrick's film was released in January, to critical acclaim and disappointing box office sales.
While Dr. Strangelove was grim and darkly funny (some critics called it "bufoonery"), Fail Safe was earnest and serious (both novels were serious explorations of "accidental" nuclear war). It received critical acclaim, but like its predecessor, failed to find an audience at the box office.
Fail Safe was adapted for a live television performance in 2000, directed by Stephen Frears and starring George Clooney and Richard Dreyfuss.
