On This Day

The Terminator released

October 26th 1984

11:50 October 26 2024

James Cameron's 'The Terminator' was released in theaters across the US on this day in 1984. Cameron was in Rome during production of his feature directorial debut 'Piranha II: The Spawning' (1982) when he fell ill and had a fever dream that involved a chrome skeleton crawling out of a fire. Waking from his nightmare he quickly sketched some drawings and began work on a story about a cyborg assassin sent back in time to kill the woman whose son will become the saviour of mankind.

Made on a budget of just $6.4 million but inspired by John Carpenter's 'Halloween' (1978) which had confounded box office expectations on even lower production costs, 'The Terminator' went on to gross more than $78 million at the box office worldwide, helped solidify Arnold Schwarzenegger's status as a leading actor and began a long running and highly successful franchise.