Production
Development and casting
Finance came from Cinema Center Films.
Hawks said he had to fight Cinema Center to cast Chris Mitchum (whose father was actor Robert Mitchum) in the movie. Hawks originally wanted to cast Robert Mitchum as Cardona, but his salary demands were too high.
Filming
The film was meant to be shot in Durango, Mexico, on a budget of $5 million, but shooting on the movie Lawman took up facilities there, so Hawks and Cinema Center had to spend an extra $1 million to allow shooting in Cuernavaca The script was rewritten throughout production. The film was shot in Technicolor. Hawks was injured while filming the railway scene, requiring four stitches.
Reception
Box office
The film made US$4.25 million in rentals, 20th among the highest money-making pictures of the year, Variety wrote, "Hawks' direction is as listless as the plot". Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, wrote, "Rio Lobo is just a shade tired, especially after the finely honed humor and action of El Dorado." Roger Greenspun of The New York Times said that the film was "close enough to greatness to stand above everything else so far in the current season." His comments surprised other critics and resulted in numerous angry letters sent to the newspaper. In a retrospective review, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "The fact that its best action sequence, the first, was directed by the second unit is emblematic of Hawks's relative lack of engagement with the material." TV Guide wrote, "for such a refined director as Hawks to end his career on a note like this, having made some of the finest films in the history of American cinema, is an atrocity not worth the silver used in the negative." Writing for Time Out, Geoff Andrew said, "If it lacks the formal perfection of Rio Bravo and the moving elegy for men grown old of El Dorado, it's still a marvellous film". Empire writer Ian Nathan wrote in January 2000, "this well-bred Western is just a routine canter through themes and gunfights as worn as the saddles." Filmink called it "wheezy, sloppy but fun."
Soundtrack
The music for Rio Lobo was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The soundtrack album was released in Belgium in 2001 on Prometheus Records.