The name James Cameron is immediately associated by many with the sci-fi hit Terminator. However, the star director had to first endure a massive flop before achieving international success. The inspiration for that came to him in a dream.
James Cameron’s career began with the film project Piranha 2 – Flying Killers. This is a thriller from 1978, featuring murderous fish lurking in the skies.
Initially, James Cameron was supposed to take charge of the special effects. Shortly thereafter, however, the actual director of the project was fired, and Cameron took over his position.
However, the language barrier between him and the Italian team made work difficult. Additionally, he had issues with the executive producer of the film, as the producer repeatedly criticized Cameron’s decisions. Shortly after, Cameron was then dismissed.
Here you see a trailer for Piranha 2 – Flying Killers:
Piranha 2 was an absolute failure for James Cameron
In an interview, the director spoke about his exit from the project:
He simply fired me and took over, which he wanted to do when he hired me. Only much later did I understand what had happened. I thought: “Oh man, I thought I had done good work.” But when I saw what they had edited together, it was terrible.
James Cameron in conversation with LA Times (via collider.com)
There was also the issue that James Cameron could not remove his name from the project, even though he had been fired.
However, during this time, another project emerged: James Cameron was in Rome due to Piranha 2 and fell ill. With a high fever, the director dreamed something crazy:
I dreamed of this chrome, metallic figure of death emerging from a fire. A sort of skeletal robot, if you will.
So I woke up with this image in my head, made a few drawings, and then built a story around this image.
James Cameron in conversation with 60 Minutes (via collider.com)
After returning from Rome, the director knew that after this flop he would never get a job again unless he wrote and implemented something himself.
Inspired by his fever dream, the Terminator took shape and premiered in 1984. With Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role, James Cameron’s film series remains one of the most famous sci-fi films to this day.
James Cameron seems to find his involvement in Piranha 2 so uncomfortable that he would prefer to forget the film entirely. For example, in an interview with VanityFair, he made it clear:
“You must not forget: I worked on Piranha 2 for a few days and then got fired. I do not list it in my official filmography. There is therefore no emotional connection for me […].”
An actress from Terminator later admitted that she was not initially convinced by Cameron’s project. She also couldn’t relate to the lead actor at first:
