Before he was an A-lister, James Cameron got his start directing B-movie Piranha 2: The Spawning, which surprisingly led to The Terminator's creation. That might sound like an inauspicious debut, but everyone has to start somewhere, and if one isn't born into Hollywood royalty, chances are they'll have to claw their way up from the bottom. Not that there's anything to be ashamed of about working in B-movies, as lots of future big-time stars and filmmakers got their start in low-budget genre pictures.
The Terminator would mark Cameron's first big hit, which he would follow-up with Aliens, quickly climbing the Hollywood ranks. By 1997, Cameron helmed Titanic, which would sit for over a decade as the highest-grossing film of all-time, not factoring in inflation. Of course, Titanic lost that record to Cameron's next chart-topper, Avatar. As much as some like to pick on Avatar now, people sure liked it at the time, with revolutionary visuals making for an unforgettable theatrical moviegoing experience.
But back in the early 1980s, Cameron was far from king of the world, toiling away on Piranha 2, a movie he infamously had a hard time directing, due to constant producer meddling. Oddly enough though, a consequence of that meddling was Cameron inventing The Terminator.
How Piranha 2 Inspired James Cameron's The Terminator
Funnily enough, James Cameron was actually hired to direct Piranha 2 after the first director was fired. Unfortunately for him, working with Italian producer Ovidio G. Assonitis proved to be hellish, with Assonitis asserting almost complete control over the production. According to Cameron, he was fired after a couple of weeks, and quietly replaced by the producer himself. He was banned from post production and editing as well, despite his name being kept on the film, and he couldn't afford the lawyers it would take to demand his name be removed.
Where Terminator comes in is that Cameron flew to Rome on his own dime, despite having limited resources, to try and take control of the edit. While he didn't succeed, he became quite ill. One night, while feverish, Cameron had a wild nightmare about what would become the iconic Terminator endoskeleton, dragging itself through flames while holding large knives. Inspired, Cameron drew his vision after waking up, and worked backwards from there, coming up with a script to fit what he'd dreamed. The result was The Terminator, one of the best sci-fi/action films ever made, and also a terrific slasher movie. While Cameron has said he doesn't really feel like he directed Piranha 2, despite being credited, it led to arguably his greatest idea ever, so was definitely worth it.