Renoir said that of all his films, "The Rules of the Game" was the biggest failure at the time of its release. He also said its failure "so depressed me that I resolved to either give up the cinema or to leave France." During shooting, Renoir was offered the chance to film an adaptation of "Tosca" by Italian producers; he agreed to the deal on July 14, 1939, and saw it as an opportunity to leave France. Renoir and Carl Koch traveled to Rome on August 10 for pre-production, but had to leave on August 23 after the German-Soviet pact made his French citizenship an issue. Koch directed the film instead and Renoir emigrated to Hollywood.