From a Fever Dream to a Chrome Nightmare
James Cameron's low-budget pitch became a genre landmark through stubborn invention and reluctant casting.
Actor/director Michael Biehn (The Terminator , Aliens, The Abyss) at an August 23, 2012 appearance at Midtown Comics Downtown in Manhattan to promote his directorial debut, the horror film The Victim, — Nightscream, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Where to watch The Terminator ↓A Sickbed Origin
James Cameron first got the idea while bedridden in Rome during the release of Piranha II, when a fever sent him into a nightmare of a metallic torso wielding kitchen knives and crawling out of an explosion.
That image stayed with him, even as the earliest outline pushed further than the film he could actually make. The first draft imagined two machines sent back, the second made of liquid metal, a concept Cameron set aside because the technology of the time could not create it.
Selling a Dollar Dream
To get it made at all Cameron made a famously desperate bargain. He sold the film rights to producer Gale Anne Hurd for one dollar on the condition he be hired to direct, a decision he later regretted.
Financing still needed convincing. For Hemdale Film Corporation chairman John Daly, Cameron staged an elaborate pitch where actor Lance Henriksen arrived early dressed as the Terminator with fake cuts and gold foil teeth before kicking open the office door.
Gale Anne Hurd speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Casting the Terminator
The role of the machine was first turned down by Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson before landing with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cameron arrived at the meeting intending to pick a fight with Schwarzenegger to avoid casting him, but left convinced the Austrian bodybuilder was perfect.
Schwarzenegger himself was unimpressed at first. While filming Conan the Destroyer he dismissed the project as a B-movie that would not harm his career if it failed, only realizing its potential after seeing twenty minutes of the first cut. He prepared by spending three months training with weapons and ended up with only 17 lines and fewer than 100 words in the entire film.
Linda Hamilton at the Titanic special effects wrap-up party on the Queen Mary. 1997. (caption: The Titanic special effects wrap-up party on the Queen Mary. 1997. Yes, Peter is attacking Linda Hamilton — Matthew Simoneau from Boston, MA, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Finding Kyle Reese
The human counterpoint was almost taken by rock musician Sting, who was considered for Kyle Reese but declined because Cameron was not yet an established director.
Michael Biehn took the part after some hesitation. He initially thought the script was silly and only committed after meeting with Cameron, having studied the Polish resistance movement in World War II to prepare for playing Kyle Reese.
What began as a fever dream and a dollar deal survived skeptical actors and impossible tech to become the template for modern sci-fi action.
Michael Connell Biehn (born July 31, 1956) is an American actor. — Bree Bailey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.