20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About The Terminator Franchise

20. James Cameron Sold The Terminator Rights For A Dollar

Taking a characteristic risk, James Cameron - then just a young upstart whose only director's credit had been for 1981's Piranha Part Two: The Spawning - elected not to retain the rights to The Terminator. Instead, he sold the rights to future wife Gale Anne Hurd for just one dollar. The reason he did this? As a Hollywood newcomer, Cameron had no guarantee that he would be able to direct The Terminator himself, so, as a pre-emptive effort to prevent producers wrestling him off the project, Cameron sold the rights to Hurd with the stipulation that she would produce, and only he would get to direct. Of course, The Terminator and its sequels would prove hugely financially successful, and though Cameron probably isn't kicking himself too much now he's one of the most renowned filmmakers on the planet, Hurd eventually sold her share of the Terminator rights for $7 million, leaving her with a $6,999,999 profit.