"The Terminator" 30 years later

The future was forever changed on Oct. 26, 1984, when "The Terminator" first burst into theaters.

Scroll through our gallery for some fun facts in celebration of the film's 30th anniversary.

By: Ken Lombardi

Genisys of a Franchise

The origins of "The Terminator" can be traced to a trip to Rome, Italy, in the early 1980s taken by a then-unknown James Cameron. The burgeoning young filmmaker was suffering from a cold and felt isolated in the city, which inspired imaginative imagery of outsiders from the future.

Cameron couldn't have predicted that his idea would turn into a lucrative franchise that remains active three decades later.

To date, the four "Terminator" films have collectively taken in more than $1.4 billion in global ticket sales, unadjusted for inflation.

The next installment in the series, "Terminator Genisys" is due for release July 1, 2015.

James Cameron

The filmmaker hadn't even turned 30 when production first began on "The Terminator." His only other directing credit at that point was "Piranha Part Two: The Spawning," so at lot was at stake.

Cameron was living in his car while writing the screenplay and when it came time for filming, the director took a very hands-on approach to every aspect of the production, which paid off in the end.

After the success of the film, Cameron became one of Hollywood's hottest directors. He returned for 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgement Day," which proved even more of a hit than its predecessor in terms of box office and critical praise, nabbing four Academy Awards in the process.

Cameron's other prominent film credits include 1986's "Aliens," 1994's "True Lies" and 1997's "Titanic." He is currently working on a series of sequels to his blockbuster 2009 release, "Avatar."

Molding the Terminator

The casting process proved arduous, as Cameron looked at countless actors for the title role of a cyborg killer from the future. At one point, O.J. Simpson was even suggested for the part.

One person Cameron initially didn't have in mind for the role was Arnold Schwarzenegger -- then known primarily for his work as a bodybuilder.

Schwarzenegger was initially up for the part of good guy Kyle Reeese, until he and Cameron both realized that he was meant to play the Terminator. Cameron even sketched up a drawing of Schwarzeneger with a robotic skull superimposed over half of his face before the role had been cast.

"And I looked at this painting and I said, 'I am the Terminator,'" Schwarzenegger revealed in a 1992 interview.

Skynet Secrets

Stan Winston was tasked with creating futuristic make-up and cybernetic prosthetics all on a limited budget, given that the film's distributor Orion Pictures viewed Cameron's project as nothing more than a low-budget B-action movie.

Even for a veteran like Winston, one of the most well-regarded make-up and special effects artists ever to work in Hollywood, realizing such concepts proved a challenge, especially given the limits at the time of filming in 1984.

Luckily for Winston though, production on "The Terminator" was delayed for several months as Schwarzenegger was contractually obligated to film "Conan the Destroyer," which allowed more time for the effects to be perfected.

Schwarzenegger has said that the realistic make-up helped him further get into the character of a machine.

Winston died in 2008 at 62.

Shoot Out

Shot mostly at night in seedy areas of downtown Los Angeles, filming on "The Terminator" was difficult for almost all parties involved.

"The executive producer begged to shoot more of the scenes as daytime because of the perceived cost difference," Cameron revealed. "But I plunged madly on. It seemed so important, stylistically to keep the film a night film as much as possible."

Schwarzenegger claims that at one point, Cameron poured actual acid on him to simulate smoke.

"The first ['Terminator'] was really a struggle because there wasn't much time available or that much money available," the actor said.

Cameron pushed his cast members to their physical limits, which created friction with Linda Hamilton, who played the film's heroine, Sarah Connor.

The actress said that she thought Cameron was rooting for the machines rather than the humans by the end of the shoot, but she changed her mind about her director after seeing the film and realizing it would be a hit.

Schwarzenegger was still learning English at the time of shooting and has only 16 lines of dialogue in the finished film.

"I'll Be Back"

There's several famous quotes in "The Terminator" -- such as "Come with me if you want to live" -- but the one that stands out the most is Schwarzenegger's trademark "I'll be back."

Cameron and Schwarzenegger debated about the actual phrasing, which was initially scripted as "I'll come back." Cameron says that the scene was originally not meant to be comedic in any way, but he notices that audiences often laugh during Schwarzenegger's delivery.

As IMDb notes, the phrase is often mockingly quoted as "I'll be bock!" even though Schwarzenegger delivers the line with almost no accent or emotion in the actual film.

Father Figure

The character of Kyle Reese presents one of cinema's greatest film paradoxes, as he gets sent back in time by his leader John Connor and conceives a child with Connor's mother, Sarah, thus becoming John's father, the very man who sent him into the past to begin with. (Confused yet?)

Even though they go head to head over the fate of humanity, Reese and the Terminator only appear in the same frame together once during the entire film, in a scene set in an L.A. night club.

Sting, Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis were all considered for the role, which eventually went to Michael Biehn.

Michael Biehn

Biehn almost didn't get the part of Reese because he used a Southern accent during his audition, as he had been preparing for a production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the time. When Cameron found out that the accent wasn't real, the role was given to him almost immediately.

To get into character as Reese -- a hardened resistance fighter -- Biehn read books on Polish Jews who secretly fought against the Nazis in underground tunnels during World War II.

Biehn went on to work with Cameron again in 1986's "Aliens." In recent years, he has turned his attention to producing and acting in independent projects.

The actor says that he still astonished by the impact "The Terminator" has had on the public, even to this day.

"A lot of times I'll take pictures with girls and they're sometimes shaking," Biehn said in February at a New Orleans Comic-Con panel. "Guys too actually."

Mother of the Revolution

Just about every young actress in Hollywood was considered for the part of Connor, a somewhat timid woman who would one day become a fighter and literally give birth to the human uprising against their cybernetic oppressors.

Bridget Fonda, Tatum O'Neil, Glenn Close, Geena Davis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Deborah Winger were some of the names that were thrown out there, before Linda Hamilton finally secured the part, after a rigorous auditioning process that lasted several weeks.

Linda Hamilton

A New York-trained actress, Hamilton was surprised by the intense physicality involved with the making of the film.

She has said that she had to undergo several hours of make-up towards the end of filming to cover up all the real bruises she acquired during the shoot.

Although she was less than pleased with Cameron, Hamilton eventually began dating him on and off for several years. The couple had a child together, Josephine, in 1993. Cameron and Hamilton married in 1997, but divorced two years later.

When asked what she would change and what she liked about her Sarah Connor character, Hamilton said she wasn't a fan of her hair but did admire her "good taste in guys. I never had that."

"A Slow Burn"

"The Terminator" wasn't a runaway hit upon initial release, although ticket sales were certainly respectable.

The film grossed more than $78 million against a paltry production budget of $6.4 million. It was only after the film was released on VHS and shown on TV, however, that it then became a massive hit and pop culture phenomenon.

"The first movie to my recollection was a really really slow burn," Hamilton said. "It was not an overnight hit at all. It took years and years for it to become a success as I recall. And it was really years and years before people would say 'Hey, I saw you in this movie and I want to cast you in this.' It took years for the blessing to really hit and then it took off."

Message Received

Eventually, "The Terminator" caught on with viewers as both an edge-of-your-seat action thriller and a film with a message about the dangers of a society that becomes overly reliant on technology.

"I think the story is so solid and so good and has so many interesting messages there and it also entertaining so it would have a broad appeal," Schwarzenegger said. "It has an appeal for the women. It has something for the older folks. It was something that had something in there for everyone."

The Future

No one associated with the making of "The Terminator" could have aniticipated what awaited them over the years since the film's release.

"The Terminator" is often cited as one of the greatest sci-fi action films of all time and has landed on multiple "best-of" lists. It spawned one of the most successful film franchises in movie history and in the process helped solidify Schwarzenegger and Cameron in the entertainment industry.

In 2003, Schwarzenegger hosted a CBS special, "AFI's 100 Greatest Heroes and Villains," in which he found himself on both the "heroes" and "villains" list for his role as the Terminator.

In 2008, "The Terminator" was selected for preservation by the U.S. Library of Congress given the film's impact on pop culture and society as a whole.

Cameron says that he turned down a chance to participate in the upcoming installment in the franchise, "Terminator: Genysis," which is intended to serve as the basis for the beginning of a new trilogy, depending on how successful "Genysis" proves. As the first film reveals, the future is always unpredictable.