James Cameron was so determined to ‘kill’ the Terminator saga that he even filmed its final ending. Luckily, someone prevented it at the last moment.

In 1984 James Cameron, a promising young VFX director, changed the course of film history with The Terminator. Although the original film could have been considered a B series production At the time, it laid the foundation for a multi-million dollar franchise that endures to this day. However, it was with its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Daythat the author of Avatar also catapulted the saga to the top of Hollywood and became one of the most profitable filmmakers of history. But did you know that The Terminator was on the edge of the abyss even before the second installment is released? And it was Cameron’s own fault.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, released in 1991, is a masterful example of science fiction and action cinema. This film not only expanded the narrative universe that Cameron had created in the original film, but it also revolutionized the film industry. with its visual effects innovative and impressive action sequences. The movie was a box office and critical success and marked the beginning of a profitable franchise that, although it is irregular and has some forgettable deliveries, is now a pop culture icon immovable.

A definitive ending

One of the curiosities of Terminator 2 is that it underwent numerous cuts and modifications before its release. Among the material removed from Terminator 2 is an alternative ending which would have had a radically different impact on the future of the saga. In this scene, after the fight against the T-1000 and the subsequent destruction of the Terminator T-800 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) wakes up in a future where John Connor is a successful politician. The earth lives and Skynet’s Terminators were never a threat.

This ending would have closed the story in a more optimistic way, but it would also have left less room for future sequels. And James Cameron, at that time, wanted to conclude the Terminator saga definitively, but it was producer Mario Kassar who intervened and suggested that the alternative ending should be discarded. Kassar understood that the franchise had potential for more movies, and financial benefitsand that this scene would close the story in a way that could have been final.

Other changes in the film

In addition to the alternate ending, Terminator 2 also underwent other major changes during its production. One of the most notable elements was the inclusion of the Visions of Sarah Connor by Kyle Reeseplayed by Michael Biehn, during his time in a mental hospital. These scenes enhanced the emotional connection to the original film and helped further develop Sarah’s character. The relationship between the T-800 and the young John Connor also suffered cuts, leaving out some of the most intimate moments of the film’s main characters.

Terminator 2 was a tremendous box office success, grossing more than 500 million dollars worldwide, making it one of the most successful films of the 1990s, earning four Oscars. Thanks to its popularity (and profitability), the Terminator saga continued to expand with several sequels, television series, and video games. Although not all of these deliveries maintained the same level of quality than the two original films, the saga’s influence on pop culture is undeniable.

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