FILM · 1984 · UK
The Terminator
- Directed by
- James Cameron
- Runtime
- 108 min
- Studio
- Hemdale, Pacific Western
37 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
Summary: TMDB
All facts (37)
- #001
While in Rome, Italy, for the release of Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), James Cameron became ill and dreamed of a metallic torso wielding kitchen knives pulling itself out of an explosion.
- #002
James Cameron drew on John Carpenter's low-budget approach to Halloween (1978) and used his dream as a starting point for writing a slasher-style film.
- #003
James Cameron's agent objected to the early horror concept and asked him to pursue other material, after which Cameron let the agent go.
- #004
James Cameron wrote the draft for The Terminator while staying at the home of science fiction writer Randall Frakes in Pomona, California.
- #005
The influences behind The Terminator included 1950s science fiction films, the 1960s fantasy television series The Outer Limits, and contemporary films such as The Driver (1978) and Mad Max 2 (1981).
- #006
To turn the draft into a script, James Cameron brought in his friend Bill Wisher, who shared a similar approach to storytelling.
- #007
James Cameron assigned Bill Wisher the scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department. Because Wisher lived far from Cameron, the two exchanged ideas by phone and recorded calls of themselves reading new scenes.
- #008
James Cameron judged that the technology available at the time could not create the liquid Terminator, so he set the concept aside.
- #009
The shelved liquid-metal Terminator idea was revived for the T-1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
- #010
Gale Anne Hurd, a former assistant to Roger Corman at New World Pictures, showed interest in The Terminator project. Cameron sold the film's rights to Hurd for one dollar, on the condition that she would produce it only if he directed.
- #011
Hurd proposed edits to The Terminator script and received a screenwriting credit, although Cameron said she "did no actual writing at all". Cameron later regretted selling the rights for one dollar.
- #012
Cameron and Hurd had friends who had previously worked with Corman and were then employed at Orion Pictures. Orion agreed to distribute The Terminator provided Cameron secured financial backing from another source.
- #013
John Daly, chairman and president of Hemdale Film Corporation, picked up The Terminator script. Daly and Derek Gibson, Hemdale's executive vice president and head of production, became executive producers on the project.
- #014
To help finalize the deal with Daly, James Cameron had his friend Lance Henriksen arrive early at the meeting dressed and acting like the Terminator, wearing a leather jacket, fake cuts and gold foil on his teeth. Henriksen kicked open the office door and sat in a chair before Cameron arrived and relieved the staff from the act.
- #015
Daly was impressed by the screenplay, Cameron's sketches and his passion for the film, and in late 1982 agreed to back The Terminator with help from HBO and Orion.
- #016
The Terminator was originally budgeted at $4 million, a figure later raised to $6.5 million.
- #017
After The Terminator's release, Hemdale, Pacific Western Productions, Euro Film Funding and Cinema '84 were credited as production companies alongside Hemdale.
- #018
For the role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator, Orion sought an actor gaining popularity in the United States who would also appeal to foreign audiences.
- #019
Orion co-founder Mike Medavoy met Arnold Schwarzenegger and sent the actor's agent the script for The Terminator.
- #020
James Cameron was uncertain about casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese, believing a more famous actor would be needed for the Terminator role.
- #021
Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson both declined the Terminator role, and although Mike Medavoy suggested O. J. Simpson, James Cameron doubted Simpson could be believable as a killer because of his affable persona.
- #022
James Cameron agreed to meet with Arnold Schwarzenegger but devised a plan to avoid casting him, intending to pick a fight and then tell Hemdale the actor was unfit for the role.
- #023
During the meeting, Cameron was entertained by Schwarzenegger's talk about how the villain should be played, and Cameron began sketching Schwarzenegger's face on a notepad while asking him to stop talking and remain still.
- #024
After the meeting, Cameron told Daly that Schwarzenegger would not play Reese but would make a hell of a Terminator.
- #025
According to his memoir Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger considered The Terminator low-profile enough that it would not damage his career if it were unsuccessful.
- #026
During an interview on the set of Conan the Destroyer, Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked about a pair of shoes from The Terminator wardrobe and replied, "Oh, some shit movie I'm doing, take a couple weeks."
- #027
Schwarzenegger's view of The Terminator changed after he watched twenty minutes of the first edit, which he found intense and unlike anything he had seen, leading him to believe the film could be bigger than expected.
- #028
To prepare for his role in The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger trained with weapons for three months so he could use them and feel at ease around them.
- #029
Schwarzenegger has only 17 lines and fewer than 100 words of dialogue in The Terminator; James Cameron said his accent worked because it had a strange synthesized quality, as if the voice had not been fully worked out.
- #030
Sting was among the actors suggested for the role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator, but he was not interested because James Cameron was too much an unknown director at the time.
- #031
Michael Biehn was cast as Kyle Reese in The Terminator after initially feeling the film was silly; he changed his mind following a meeting with James Cameron.
- #032
Michael Biehn first auditioned for The Terminator with a Southern drawl he had picked up when he read for a play, then auditioned again in his normal voice and was eventually cast; to prepare as Kyle Reese he studied the Polish resistance movement in World War II.
- #033
The Terminator's script described Sarah Connor as 19 years old with small, delicate features and a flawed, accessible prettiness, whose vulnerable quality hides a strength she does not know she has.
- #034
Lisa Langlois was offered the role of Sarah Connor in The Terminator but declined because she was already filming The Slugger's Wife, and Cindy Morgan was also considered for the part.
- #035
Cameron gave Lance Henriksen the role of Vukovich in The Terminator because Henriksen had been essential to finding finances for the film, and for the special effects shots Cameron wanted Dick Smith, who declined and suggested his friend Stan Winston.
- #036
Filming for The Terminator was scheduled to start in early 1983 in Toronto, but production was halted because producer Dino De Laurentiis exercised an option in Arnold Schwarzenegger's contract that kept him unavailable for nine months while he filmed Conan the Destroyer.
- #037
While The Terminator was on hold, James Cameron was hired to write the script for Rambo: First Blood Part II and also refined The Terminator script.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia The Terminator — Wikipedia
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