In 1984, no one could have guessed that an independently made movie about an unstoppable cyborg assassin would become a hit, launch a still-growing franchise and, arguably, predict the future of artificial intelligence.
Producer Gale Anne Hurd and co-writer/director James Cameron realized they had a hit on their hands when it topped the box office the first weekend, because as Hurd recalled, “Orion told us it was a down-and-dirty exploitation film, that word of mouth would be so bad that we wouldn’t be in theaters after the second weekend.” How wrong they were.
Looking back 40 years later on “The Terminator,” Hurd marveled how the discussion around AI has moved from being considered “science fiction and fantasy,” to front page news and how the movie helped usher in the age of female action stars.