— Ch. 1 · Dream To Screen Development —
The Terminator.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
In Rome, Italy, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning in 1982, director James Cameron fell ill and experienced a vivid dream. He saw a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion. This image became his launching pad for writing a slasher-style film inspired by John Carpenter's Halloween. Cameron returned to Pomona, California, and stayed at the home of science fiction writer Randall Frakes. There he wrote the initial draft while drawing on influences like The Outer Limits and Mad Max 2. His agent disliked the early horror concept and asked him to work on something else. Cameron dismissed that agent immediately after. He enlisted friend Bill Wisher to help translate the draft into a full script. They communicated ideas by phoning each other and recording phone calls where they read new scenes aloud. The original outline featured two Terminators sent to the past, but Cameron shelved the liquid metal idea due to technical limitations of the time.
Casting Schwarzenegger And Biehn
Orion Pictures approached Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role of Kyle Reese, but he agreed to play the title character instead. Cameron devised a plan to avoid casting Schwarzenegger as Reese by picking a fight with him during their meeting. He found himself sketching Schwarzenegger's face on a notepad while asking him to remain still. Afterward, Cameron told producer John Daly that Schwarzenegger would make a hell of a Terminator. Schwarzenegger initially viewed the project as just another B action movie. During an interview on the set of Conan the Destroyer, he called it some shit movie. He later admitted he was hesitant until seeing twenty minutes of the first edit. He realized then that this could be bigger than anyone thought. To prepare, Schwarzenegger spent three months training with weapons. He speaks only 17 lines in the film and fewer than 100 words total. For the role of Reese, Cameron chose Michael Biehn after considering rock musician Sting who declined the part. Biehn studied the Polish resistance movement in World War II to get into character. Linda Hamilton was cast as Sarah Connor after Lisa Langlois turned down the offer.