The Osterman Weekend is a 1983 suspense thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum. The film stars Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Burt Lancaster, Dennis Hopper, Meg Foster and Craig T. Nelson. It was Peckinpah's final film before his death in 1984.

The film begins with CIA director Maxwell Danforth (Lancaster) watching a filmed recording of agent Laurence Fassett (Hurt) and his wife making love. When Fassett goes into the bathroom to take a shower two assassins enter the bedroom and kill his wife by holding her down and spraying poison into her nostrils. It is hinted that the woman was an innocent bystander sacrificed by Danforth as collateral damage. Fassett, unaware of his employer's involvement, goes almost insane with grief and rage and begins to hunt down the assassins, eventually uncovering a Soviet spy network known as Omega.

Fassett is called into the director's office and says that he wants to turn some of Omega's agents to the side of the West, and he has the perfect opportunity in John Tanner (Hauer), a controversial television journalist, highly critical of government abuses of power. Fassett explains that Tanner's closest friends are Omega agents. He believes Tanner could turn the Soviet spies into defecting. For proof, he offers videotaped evidence of Tanner's friends discussing financial matters with a Russian man, whom Fassett identifies as KGB. Tanner had met his friends years ago in college, and they have all gone on to successful careers. The spies are Bernard Osterman, a television producer, and two others: Richard Tremayne, a plastic surgeon, and stock trader Joseph Cardone. Tanner agrees, but only on the condition that the CIA appear as a guest on his show. Danforth agrees to this condition.

The Osterman Weekend is a thriller novel by Robert Ludlum. First published in 1972, it was the author's second book.

John Tanner, the host of an investigative news show, is convinced by a CIA agent that the friends he has invited to a weekend in the country are engaged in a conspiracy, called Omega, that threatens national security. But then everything John Tanner thinks he knows about his closest friends is overturned, and he is set against them. But when Omega finally reveals itself, he realises that he has been manipulated from the very start.

The novel was the basis for the film of the same title.

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch (1969). He was known for the innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence, as well as his revisionist approach to the Western genre.

Peckinpah's films generally deal with the conflict between values and ideals, and the corruption of violence in human society. He was given the nickname "Bloody Sam" owing to the violence in his films. His characters are often loners or losers who desire to be honorable, but are forced to compromise in order to survive in a world of nihilism and brutality.

Peckinpah's combative personality, marked by years of alcohol and drug abuse, affected his professional legacy. Many of his films were noted for behind-the-scenes battles with producers and crew members, damaging his reputation and career during his lifetime. Many of his films, such as Straw Dogs (1971), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), remain controversial.

Rutger Oelsen Hauer (/ˈrʌtɡər ˈhaʊər/; Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrʏtxər ˈulsə(n) ˈɦʌuwər]; born 23 January 1944) is a Dutch stage, television and film actor. His career began in 1969 with the title role in the popular Dutch television series Floris, directed by Paul Verhoeven. His film credits include Flesh + Blood, Blind Fury, Blade Runner, The Hitcher, Nighthawks, Wedlock, Sin City, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Ladyhawke, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Osterman Weekend, The Blood of Heroes, Batman Begins, Hobo with a Shotgun, The Rite and he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for Escape from Sobibor. Hauer is a dedicated environmentalist and has founded an AIDS awareness organization, the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association.

He is the father of actress Aysha Hauer and the grandfather of fashion model Leandro Maeder (b. Dec 14, 1987).

Hauer was born in Breukelen, in the Netherlands, the town lending its name to New York City's Borough Brooklyn. His parents were drama teachers Arend and Teunke. Rutger grew up in Amsterdam. Since his parents were very occupied with their careers, he and his three sisters (one older, two younger) were brought up mostly by nannies. At the age of 15, Hauer ran off to sea and spent a year scrubbing decks aboard a freighter. Returning home, he worked as an electrician and a joiner for three years while attending acting classes at night school. He went on to join an experimental troupe, with which he remained for five years before Paul Verhoeven cast him in the lead role of the very successful 1969 television series Floris, a Dutch Ivanhoe-like medieval action drama. The role made him famous in his native country.

Lalo Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations. Schifrin, associated with the jazz music genre, is also noted for work with Clint Eastwood in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, particularly the Dirty Harry films.

Schifrin was born Boris Claudio Schifrin in Buenos Aires to Jewish parents. His father, Luis Schifrin, led the second violin section of the orchestra at the Teatro Colón for three decades. At the age of six, Schifrin began a six-year course of study on piano with Enrique Barenboim, the father of the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. At age 16, Schifrin began studying piano with the Greek-Russian expatriate Andreas Karalis, former head of the Kiev Conservatory, and harmony with Argentine composer Juan Carlos Paz. During this time, Schifrin also became interested in jazz.

Although Schifrin studied sociology and law at the University of Buenos Aires, it was music that captured his attention. At age 20, he successfully applied for a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire. While there, he attended Olivier Messiaen's classes and formally studied with Charles Koechlin, a disciple of Maurice Ravel. At night he played jazz in the Paris clubs. In 1955, Schifrin played piano with Ástor Piazzolla and represented his country at the International Jazz Festival in Paris.