Writing The Terminator while living in a car

James Cameron was a young filmmaker with a script and no clout when he went through a lean stretch that a Business Insider India list describes as homelessness. According to the list, he was living in his car for a time while writing The Terminator, barely covering his expenses. The list does not say where he parked or how long the period lasted, and it gives no dates beyond the writing of the film.

His main concern was not money but control. He wanted to direct his own screenplay, despite having limited experience. Production companies liked the script, but they did not like the idea of him directing it.

Empire magazine describes him at that stage as a production designer, art director and effects specialist schooled under the producer Roger Corman. In 1982 he was directing the film Piranha II in Rome, but he was fired after a few days of shooting.

The way out came from the producer Gale Anne Hurd, who bought the screenplay rights for one dollar and named Cameron as director. The Terminator was made on a small budget, and it earned 77 million dollars worldwide. In an interview with Empire about the film, Cameron said they did not have much of a budget, and that he got 40,000 dollars to direct and put the same amount into reshoots, with Hurd adding money as well. Cameron went on to become one of the most successful directors in film history.