James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker and deep-sea explorer. His films combine cutting-edge film technology with classical filmmaking techniques and have grossed over $10 billion worldwide, making him the second-highest-grossing film director of all time. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, Cameron has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for six British Academy Film Awards.
Born and raised in Ontario, Cameron moved to California aged 17 and enrolled at Fullerton Community College. Beginning his career with the short film Xenogenesis, he first gained recognition for writing and directing the science fiction action film The Terminator. He had further success with Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and True Lies, as well as the Avatar franchise. He directed, wrote, co-produced, and co-edited the historical romance epic Titanic, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.
Three of Cameron's films—Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water and Titanic—are amongst the top four highest-grossing films of all time, with Avatar and Titanic amongst the three highest adjusting for inflation. He directed the first film to gross over $1 billion, the first two films to gross over $2 billion each, is the only director to have had three films gross over $2 billion each, and is the first director to have four consecutive feature films gross over $1 billion each. The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Titanic have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Cameron also co-founded the production companies Lightstorm Entertainment, Digital Domain, and Earthship Productions. In 2010, Time named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In addition to filmmaking, he is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence and has produced many documentaries on deep-ocean exploration, including Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep. Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies, and helped create the new digital 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2012, he became the first person to complete a solo descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Earth's ocean, in the Deepsea Challenger submersible. He is also an environmentalist and runs several sustainability businesses.
Early life
James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954, in Kapuskasing, Ontario, to Philip Cameron, an electrical engineer, and Shirley, an artist and nurse. He is the first of five children, with two brothers and two sisters. His paternal great-great-great-grandfather emigrated from Balquhidder, Scotland, in 1825. Cameron spent summers on his grandfather's farm in Southern Ontario. He attended Stamford Collegiate in Niagara Falls, Ontario. At age 17, Cameron and his family moved from Chippawa, Ontario to Brea, California. He attended Sonora High School and then moved to Brea Olinda High School. Classmates recalled that he was not a sportsman but instead enjoyed building things that "either went up into the air or into the deep".After high school, Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College, a community college, in 1973 to study physics. He switched subjects to English, but left the college at the end of 1974. Cameron worked odd jobs, including as a truck driver and a high school janitor. He drank beer, frequently consumed cannabis and LSD, and wrote in his free time. During this period, he learned about special effects by reading other students' work on "optical printing, or front screen projection, or dye transfers, anything that related to film technology" at the University of Southern California library. After the excitement of seeing Star Wars in 1977, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry.
Career
1978–1989: Early career and breakthrough
Cameron's directing career began in 1978. After borrowing money from a consortium of dentists, he learned to direct, write and produce his first short film, Xenogenesis, with a friend. Learning as he went, Cameron said he felt like a doctor doing his first surgical procedure. He then served as a production assistant for Rock 'n' Roll High School. While educating himself about filmmaking techniques, Cameron started a job as a miniature model maker at Roger Corman Studios. He was soon employed as an art director for the science-fiction film Battle Beyond the Stars. He carried out the special effects for John Carpenter's Escape from New York, served as production designer for Galaxy of Terror, and consulted on the design for Android.Cameron was hired as the visual effects director for the sequel to Piranha, titled Piranha II: The Spawning in 1982. The original director, Miller Drake, left the project due to creative differences with producer Ovidio Assonitis. Shot in Rome, Italy, and on Grand Cayman Island, the film gave Cameron the opportunity to become director for a major film for the first time. Cameron later said that it did not feel like his first film due to power-struggles with Assonitis. Upon release of Piranha II: The Spawning, critics were not impressed; author Tim Healey called it "a marvellously bad movie which splices clichés from every conceivable source".
In 1982, inspired by John Carpenter's horror film Halloween, as well as a nightmare about an invincible robot hit-man sent from the future to assassinate him, Cameron wrote the script for The Terminator, a sci-fi action film about a cyborg sent from the future to carry out a lethal mission. Cameron wanted to sell the script so that he could direct the film. While some film studios expressed interest in the project, many executives were unwilling to let a new and unfamiliar director make the film. Gale Anne Hurd, a colleague and founder of Pacific Western Productions, agreed to buy Cameron's script for one dollar, on the condition that Cameron direct the film. He convinced the president of Hemdale Pictures to make the film, with Cameron as director and Hurd as a producer. Lance Henriksen, who starred in Piranha II: The Spawning, was considered for the lead role, but Cameron decided that Arnold Schwarzenegger was more suitable as the cyborg villain due to his bodybuilder appearance. Henriksen was given a smaller role instead. Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton also joined the cast. The Terminator was a box office success, exceeding expectations set by Orion Pictures, and earning over $78 million worldwide. George Perry of the BBC praised Cameron's direction, writing "Cameron laces the action with ironic jokes, but never lets up on hinting that the terror may strike at any moment". In 2008, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 1984, Cameron was hired to write a sequel to First Blood; it was rewritten by Sylvester Stallone and released as Rambo: First Blood Part II. Cameron was then hired to write and direct a sequel to Alien, a science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott. Like the original, the sequel Aliens featured Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley. Aliens follows Ripley as she helps a group of marines fight off extraterrestrials. Despite conflicts with cast and crew during production, and having to replace one of the lead actors—James Remar with Michael Biehn—Aliens was a box office success, generating over $130 million worldwide. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1987; Best Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound. It won awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. In addition, Weaver and the film made the cover of Time in July 1986.
After Aliens, Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd decided to make The Abyss, a story about oil-rig workers who discover strange intelligent life in the ocean. Based on an idea which Cameron had conceived of during high school, the film was initially budgeted at $41 million, although it ran considerably over this amount. It starred Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn. The production process began in the Cayman Islands and in South Carolina, in two huge water tanks "reclaimed from" an unfinished nuclear power plant. The cast and crew recall Cameron's dictatorial behavior, and the filming of water scenes which were mentally and physically exhausting. Upon the film's release, The Abyss was praised for its special effects, and earned $90 million at the worldwide box office. The Abyss received four Academy Award nominations, and won Best Visual Effects.
1990–1999: Stardom and acclaim
In 1990, Cameron co-founded the firm Lightstorm Entertainment with collaborator Lawrence Kasanoff. In 1991, Cameron served as executive producer for Point Break, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. After the success of The Terminator, there were discussions for a sequel, and by the late 1980s, Mario Kassar of Carolco Pictures secured the rights to the sequel, allowing Cameron to begin production of the film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton reprise their roles. The story follows on from Terminator, depicting a new villain, with shape-shifting abilities who hunts for Sarah Connor's son, John. Cameron cast Robert Patrick as T-1000 because of his lean and thin appearance—a sharp contrast to Schwarzenegger. Cameron explained: "I wanted someone who was extremely fast and agile. If the T-800 is a human Panzer tank, then the T-1000 is a Porsche". Terminator 2 was one of the most expensive films to be produced, costing at least $. Despite the challenging use of computer-generated imagery, the film was completed on time and released on July 3, 1991. Terminator 2 broke box office records, earning over $ in North America and being the first to earn over $ worldwide. It won four Academy Awards: Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. It also received nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.In subsequent years, Cameron planned to do a third Terminator film, but plans never materialized. The rights to the Terminator franchise were eventually purchased by Kassar from a bankruptcy sale of Carolco's assets. Cameron moved on to other projects and, in 1993, co-founded Digital Domain, a visual effects production company. In 1994, Cameron and Schwarzenegger reunited for their third collaboration, True Lies, a remake of the 1991 French comedy La Totale! The story depicts an American secret agent who leads a double life as a married man, whose wife believes he is a computer salesman. The film co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Eliza Dushku and Tom Arnold. Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment signed a deal with 20th Century Fox for the production of True Lies. Budgeted at a minimum of $100 million, the film earned $146 million in the United States and Canada. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and Curtis won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. It was during the production of True Lies that he would first meet Jon Landau, who at the time oversaw the film's production for Fox. In July 2024, Cameron stated that he "lured" Landau away from Fox to Lightstorm.
In 1995, Cameron co-produced Strange Days, a science fiction thriller. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and co-written by Jay Cocks, Strange Days was critically and financially unsuccessful. In 1996, Cameron reunited with the cast of Terminator 2 to film T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, an attraction at Universal Studios Florida, and in other parks around the world.
His next major project was Titanic, an epic about the, which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. With a production budget of $200 million, at the time it was the most expensive film ever made. Starting in 1995, Cameron took several dives to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to capture footage of the wreck, which would later be used in the film. A replica of the ship was built in Rosarito Beach and principal photography began in September 1996. Titanic made headlines before its release, for being over-budget and exceeding its schedule. In a radical departure from Cameron's previous work, his completed screenplay depicts two star-crossed lovers, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, from different social classes who fall in love amid the backdrop of the ship's tragedy. The supporting cast includes Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, Danny Nucci, David Warner and Bill Paxton. The film was also Cameron's first large-scale production with Landau as a co-producer.
After months of delay, Titanic premiered on December 19, 1997. The film received strong critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing film of all time, holding this position for twelve years, until Cameron's Avatar beat the record in 2010. The costumes and sets were praised, and The Washington Post considered the CGI graphics to be spectacular. Titanic received a record-tying fourteen nominations at the 1998 Academy Awards. It won eleven of the awards, tying the record for most wins with 1959's Ben-Hur including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Upon receiving Best Picture, Cameron and producer Jon Landau asked for a moment of silence to remember the 1,500 people who died when the ship sank. Film critic Roger Ebert praised Cameron's storytelling, writing: "It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted, and spellbinding". Authors Kevin Sandler and Gaylyn Studlar wrote in 1999 that the romance, historical nostalgia and James Horner's music contributed to the film's cultural phenomenon. In 2017, on its 20th anniversary, Titanic became Cameron's second film to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
After the huge success of Titanic, Cameron kept a low profile. In 1998, he and his brother, John, formed Earthship Productions, to stream documentaries about the deep sea, one of Cameron's interests. Again during 1998, Cameron considered doing a large-scale technological/religious film by an unknown writer, but after three tries was forced to personally pass on the project "due to his secular nature." Cameron had also planned to make a film about Spider-Man, a project developed by Menahem Golan of Cannon Films. Columbia hired David Koepp to adapt Cameron's ideas into a screenplay, but due to various disagreements, Cameron abandoned the project. In 2002, Spider-Man was released with the screenplay credited solely to Koepp.