Born in Alepo Syria, Moustapha Akkad was only 19 when he left home to pursue a career in film, earning a degree from UCLA as well as a Master's degree from USC. It was at USC where he met the legendary director Sam Peckinpah. Peckinpah became Akkad's mentor in Hollywood and hired him as a consultant for a film about the Algerian revolution that never made it to the big screen, but he continued to encourage him till he found a job as a producer at CBS.

In 1976 he produced and directed Mohammad, Messenger of God (released as The Message in 1977 in the United States), starring Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas. Akkad faced resistance from Hollywood to making a film about the origins of Islam and had to go outside the United States to raise the production money for the film.

In 1978, he helped make low-budget film history when he produced Halloween. Akkad became best known for his key involvement in the first eight Halloween movies, as an executive producer (the only producer to participate in all of these films), Akkad also later owned the long-running franchise that spawned seven further variations on the original theme (the most recent being Halloween: Resurrection in 2002). The series was highly profitable, although it was only the first film that became iconic.

In 1980 he directed his next big project, Lion of the Desert, in which Quinn and Irene Papas were joined by Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger and John Gielgud. It was about the real-life Bedouin leader Omar Mukhtar (Quinn) who fought Mussolini's Italian troops in the deserts of Libya. The movie is now critically acclaimed, after initially receiving negative publicity in the West for being partially funded by Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi, who invested $35 million in the movie. This negative publicity may have been the cause of its relatively poor performance at the box office.

In the United Kingdom, Akkad once tried to buy Pinewood Studios from the Rank Organisation, and also had a studio at Twickenham.

He was in the process of producing a $80 million movie featuring Sean Connery about Saladin and the Crusades (for which he already had the script) that would be filmed in Jordan. Speaking of the film, he said:

...Saladin exactly portrays Islam. Right now, Islam is portrayed as a terrorist religion. Because a few terrorists are Muslims, the whole religion has that image. If there ever was a religious war full of terror, it was the crusades. But you can't blame Christianity because a few adventurers did this. That's my message.

Akkad is survived by three sons.

Director - filmography
Lion of the Desert (1981)
... aka Omar Mukhtar: Lion of the Desert
The Message (1976)
... aka Mohammed, Messenger of God
Risalah, al- (1976)

Producer - filmography
Halloween: Resurrection (2002) (executive producer)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) (executive producer)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) (executive producer)
Halloween 5 (1989) (executive producer)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) (executive producer)
Free Ride (1986) (executive producer)
Appointment with Fear (1985) (executive producer)
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) (executive producer)
Halloween II (1981) (executive producer)
Lion of the Desert (1981) (producer)
... aka Omar Mukhtar: Lion of the Desert
Halloween (1978) (executive producer)
... aka John Carpenter's Halloween (USA: complete title)
The Message (1976) (producer)
... aka Mohammed, Messenger of God
Risalah, al- (1976) (producer)