10 Films That Embellished Who Actually Made Them

Who You Probably Thought Made It: James Cameron

Who Really Made It: Ovidio G. Assonitis

Ask James Cameron what his directorial debut was and he’ll most likely say it was The Terminator. Technically, however – and only very technically – his first feature film as director was actually the 1981 horror sequel Piranha II: The Spawning.

Anyone who’s seen that movie can understand why Cameron would want to distant himself from it (hint: it’s not very good at all) but the truth is a little more complicated. The production was contractually obligated to employ a North American director and so Cameron was hired. Truthfully though, the person really pulling the strings was Piranha II’s executive producer Ovidio G. Assonitis, an Italian director of B-movie horrors.

According to Cameron, he was fired two and a half weeks into production with Assonitis taking over pretty much all aspects of production while still crediting Cameron as director. Cameron seems to have gotten over his not so glittering entry into the film industry, since calling his so-called directorial debut “the finest flying piranha movie ever made”.

Assonitis probably owes Cameron a thank you card or two for taking the fall for his fish-shaped flop though.