The 28 Oct 1964 DV announced the provisionally-titled Custer's Massacre as an upcoming project for Leon Fromkess and Sam Firks's F & F Productions, to be filmed at Samuel Goldwyn Studios in West Hollywood, CA, and on location in Arizona. Three weeks later, the 18 Nov 1964 Var reported the impending arrival of star Joseph Cotten at Old Tucson Studios on the outskirts of Tucson, AZ. At the time, he was also co-starring in the MGM production, The Money Trap (1966, see entry). The 15 Dec 1964 DV noted that filming concluded two weeks earlier and editing was nearing completion. The title had since been changed to Massacre at the Rosebud. An article in the 20 Jan 1965 Var revealed that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rejected the original title because of its similarity to The Day Custer Fell, a property registered by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. The F & F production had since been officially renamed The Great Sioux Massacre.
       On 11 Aug 1965, Var announced the 16 Sep 1965 premiere in Minot, ND, near the site of the battle portrayed in the film. The event, sponsored by the Minot Chamber of Commerce and the Minot Business Men's Association, included a "civic celebration" to be attended by film critics from around the U.S. A review in the 21 Sep 1965 DV described the picture as "a firstrate programmer." Openings continued over the next several months, including an 18 May 1966 debut at twenty-nine Los Angeles theaters, on a double bill with The Silencers (1966, see entry). The picture closed one year later in Cincinnati, OH, as indicated by a 31 May 1967 Var box office report.
       A news item in the 5 Oct 1966 Var noted that The Great Sioux Massacre was one of sixteen features sold by Columbia Pictures to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) at $550,000 per title.