James Cameron is an explorer. Whether it’s the forests of Pandora or the darkest depths of the Mariana Trench, the filmmaker and philanthropist prides himself on breaking new ground, as audiences around the world watch on in amazement and reverence.
His is a story of courage, of perseverance, and of excellence.
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It begins on August 16th, 1954. Born in Ontario, Canada, Cameron’s parents instilled in him a tireless work ethic and creative drive. His mother, Shirley, encouraged him to paint, and even arranged an exhibition of his work at a local gallery.
It was film that most definitively captured his attention though. A film to be precise: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. From the moment he set eyes on it, Cameron was an obsessive sci-fi fan, and a budding filmmaker.
He also proved himself quite the inventor. He led his friends in the creation of a functional catapult – the projectiles it fired struck with such force that they left impact craters – and a miniature diving vessel in which he sent mice to the bottom of the Niagara River.
The family moved to California when Cameron turned 17. Here, he completed his secondary education before enrolling at Fullerton College to study physics. It didn’t last. Instead, he worked several odd jobs, including as a truck driver, taking what time he could find to write and study special effects, though he had no expectations that he would end up becoming a professional in the business. “I couldn’t see myself as a future film director… those people were somehow born into it. Little kids from a small town in Canada didn’t get to direct movies.”
Cameron’s final push into the world of filmmaking came in 1977, when he saw Star Wars. He quit his job, and wrote a short sci-fi script called Xenogenesis. Collaborating with two friends, he raised money for cast, crew, and equipment hire. They hired a 35mm camera, but the trio had never shot on anything more complex than Super 8. Their first day on set was entirely spent learning how to operate the camera.
Xenogenesis was released in 1978, and impressed B-grade movie director so much that he hired Cameron to work on some of his films. He was a production assistant on Rock and Roll High School, while making miniature-models for use in special effects shot. In 1980, he was promoted to art director for Battle Beyond the Stars. The following year he worked on both Escape from New York and Galaxy of Terror, before his sci-fi knowledge led Cameron to be involved in the design for Android.
The director proved his dedication to the craft when he was hired as the special effects director for Piranha II: The Spawning. When original director Miller Drake left the project after clashing with producer Ovidio Assonitis, Cameron was promoted to the director’s chair. Assonitis thought Cameron would be so grateful that he could be easily manipulated. He was wrong.
The two clashed over the direction of the film for three weeks before Assonitis fired him. “…the producer of the film really wanted to be a director – that’s why it starts off with intense scenes and ends up with topless women running around on a yacht.” In revenge, Cameron broke into the editing room with a credit card and, teaching himself how to use the Italian editing equipment, re-cut the entire movie.
Struck down in Rome with food-poisoning, Cameron experienced a fever dream in which an invisible robot had been sent from the future to kill him. So it was that The Terminator was born.
While awaiting funding for what would be his first major film, Cameron wrote screenplays for two iconic films: Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Aliens.
Eventually, it would be another ‘School of Corman’ alum, Gale Anne Hurd, who would agree to let Cameron direct The Terminator. She purchased the screenplay for $1, and so production commenced with relative newcomers Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton starring.
Orion Pictures distributed the film, expected it would only last a week in cinemas. It went on to become a box office hit, making $78 million worldwide on the back of a $6.5 million budget.
On the back of such success, Cameron was hired to helm the film based on his screenplay for Aliens. Seen as a poor choice to replace Ridley Scott, he came to clash with the crew, but ultimately delivered one of the great sci-fi films of all time. Aliens was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and won two, for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects. The film would also come to set the precedent for having women in lead roles in action films.
His next film was The Abyss, which had started as a short story he’d written in high school biography class. Much of the film was shot at depths of up to 40 feet in two huge tanks containing a combined 37.5 million litres of water. It was the most expensive film ever made at the time.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day was Cameron’s first film of the 90s, now that film technology had finally caught up to his vision. The director and his fellow screenwriter, William Wisher Jr., were given only a year to bring the film to life. Once again, he proved his ability, with the film grossing over $500 million across all territories. It was the highest grossing film of 1991, and won four Academy Awards: Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects.
True Lies came in 1994, and marked Cameron’s first deviation from the sci-fi genre. An action-comedy, it grossed $378 million internationally.
What came next would be the production that truly certified Cameron’s iconic status. Featuring an all-star cast, extreme practical effects, and a whopping $200 million budget, many experts dismissed Titanic before filming had even completed.
The film released on December 19, 1997, grossing $28.6 million. The second weekend, it grossed $35.4 million. Such an increase in box office was, and still is, unprecedented, and proved that Cameron had delivered something special. Titanic remained #1 at the cinema for several months, ultimately grossing $1.84 billion worldwide. It became the highest-grossing film in North America and across the world, holding that position for 13 years.
It would be Cameron’s next movie, Avatar, that would knock it down to number two. Before that time came, however, Cameron turned his attention to other endeavours.
He worked on a range of documentaries, but was mostly interested in what lay beyond the film industry. In 2006, he co-founded MUSE School, which became the first K-12 vegan school in the USA, believing veganism is the best way for citizens to combat global warming. He also met with the EPA to consult on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (due to his research into the deep-sea while filming The Abyss and Titanic), and is currently working to put cameras on an upcoming manned mission to Mars.
Avatar was released in 2009, 14 years after Cameron had first written a treatment for the film. It made use of performance capture technology, allowing a computer-generated model to replace a live-action actor, and was shot in 3D. Avatar grossed $2.74 billion worldwide, in no small part due to the lessening of cinematic censorship in China. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Three sequels are currently planned.
In 2012, Cameron took his most incredible journey yet when he travelled to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, becoming the first person to complete the journey solo.
James Cameron has had an indelible impact on the world of film, and it’s not difficult to imagine he has a lot more innovation left in him. The Avatar sequels will enter cinemas from 2018, and are sure to provide audiences with the kind of radical, brilliant entertainment they have come to expect.