The Idea for Terminator Came From a Nightmare
Director and co-writer James Cameron first came up with the idea for The Terminator when he was stressed out and fever-stricken in Rome. It was during production on his low-budget horror flick, Piranha II: The Spawning. Apparently, he agreed to direct it…reluctantly.
Source: Infovisual
Word has it that Cameron dreamed of a solid chrome torso crawling out of and away from an explosion, dragging itself across the ground. Cameron quickly thought of a story of a robot assassin sent back in time to kill the mother of a son who will become the savior of humankind. And thus, The Terminator was born.
Fun fact: Cameron has since disowned the movie Piranha II and considers The Terminator to be his first movie.