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James Cameron has great explainer on how he made "The Terminator" (1984) for cheap:
▫️approach the story as a low-budget horror slasher film
▫️find areas with brightest street lights, to save money on lighting ("used car lots were great because they cast enough light from their floodlights onto the streets")
▫️the casting of Arnold (he hadn't really broken through yet and was only paid $75,000 which worked out to $1,293 per word)
The horror approach also worked because they could shoot a lot of the film guerilla style (no permits) in dark alleyways and parking garages. Smartly, Cameron layered on the sci-fi backstory to make it higher concept (leading to the glorious T2 sequel).
There were also a lot of indoor shots (apartment, store, bar) that didn’t need permits.
At the time, 30-year old Cameron was living so frugally that his mom was sending him "2-for-1 Big Mac coupons" from McDonald's because she didn't think he was eating enough.
The film ultimately made $80 million globally on a $4.3 million budget, launching Cameron and Arnold's Hollywood careers.
All The Right Movies@ATRightMovies
The opening of TERMINATOR 2 cost more than the $6.4m budget of the entire first film.
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