“How the Most Bada** Killing Machine Could Become a Hero”: James Cameron Answered a Much-Asked Question About Arnold Schwarzenegger Starring Terminator 2 in 2022

The Terminator series created an era that let Arnold Schwarzenegger shine the brightest. James Cameron brought in his character with a lot of pomp, and now the iconic dialogues live rent-free in fans’ minds. So, when Terminator 2 saw a change in Arnie’s character ark, fans welcomed it amidst a lot of discourse.

Director James Cameron sat down with Empire Online in December 2022 to answer some burning questions from the audience. These ranged from questions about his other series, Avatar, to throwing it back to Terminator. One of the fans brought up the change in Schwarzenegger’s character in the second installment.

Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a killer cyborg to a hero

The first installment of The Terminator series established Arnold Schwarzenegger as a killing machine. However, fans loved the character towards the end because of how he became a protector. This was Cameron’s hook for the next chapter. That’s when the co-showrunner of Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, Patrick McKay questioned the marketing campaign of the second installment. How did Cameron manage to pull in the crowd when he gave away the biggest twist about Arnie’s character in the teaser itself?

Cameron had a great reason for giving away the plot twist before the film hit theaters. His logic was to hold on to and play on the elements of the story that drew the fans. In this case, fans loved it when Schwarzenegger emerged as a hero. Since he was in charge of the marketing campaign for Terminator 2, the teaser balanced both the hook and the audience’s curiosity.

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While explaining his stance to Empire, Cameron revealed, “I believed our potential audience would be more attracted to seeing how the most badass killing machine could become a hero, than they would be to just another kill-fest in the same vein as the first film”. He also believed that a sequel must not just treasure the good elements of the first part but should also provide more to the equation. Since the teaser went by all these rules, it was a hit among fans.

Was Terminator Arnold’s most successful film then?

Surprisingly, no! Given Cameron’s vast prowess in filmmaking and Schwarzenegger’s penchant for acting, there was another film that gave Arnold more monetary benefits than Terminator did.

Arnie’s biggest paycheck came from a movie called ‘Twins’, which also starred Danny DeVito, and was directed by Ivan Reitman. The three men signed a deal on a tissue paper, and that gave rise to a hit movie. When it came to payments, the Terminator star decided to get backend points. This won him profits and gave him the heftiest cheque compared to his other movies.

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What do you think of the rise of The Terminator? Tell us in the comments.