20 Things You Didn't Know About The Terminator

While wrapping up pre-production on The Terminator, Cameron was approached by executives at 20th Century Fox who, having seen the script for The Terminator, believed Cameron was the right fit for a sequel to Alien. Cameron came up with a pitch, and the delay to filming caused by Schwarzenegger shooting Conan the Destroyer, allowed him to write an almost finished script for what would become Aliens.

The producers liked the idea and told him that he could direct the Alien sequel if The Terminator was a hit. Because of this, he considered many elements of the film as a ‘dry-run’ at the Alien sequel.

The Terminator wasn’t just a hit, it was also favorite among critics, who saw it is a breath of fresh air. Because of the positive response to the film, Cameron and his producer Gale Ann Hurd, were given the green light to work on the Alien sequel.