James Cameron

James Cameron is a Canadian film maker born in Kapuskasing, Ontario on August 16th, 1954. He is best known for his work on the Aliens, Terminator and Avatar film franchises. His first professional film work was in the horror genre and was the 1981 sci-fi/horror film Galaxy of Terror. Cameron worked on the film as a second unit director. That same year, James Cameron made his directorial debut with the predatory animal film Piranha II: The Spawning. Cameron also co-wrote the script under the pseudonym H.A. Milton. In 1984, Cameron directed the time-traveling action thriller Terminator, which became enormously successful and spawned a franchise, launching Cameron's career as well as helping Austrian body-builder-turned actor Arnold Schwarzenegger become a movie star. In 1986, Cameron put his stamp on another science fiction franchise, Aliens. Aliens was the first sequel to the 1979 film Alien directed by Ridley Scott. Cameron's approach to the film was to make it more of an action/adventure movie as opposed to the slower, horror-driven atmospheric tempo Scott used on Alien. Always taking the world of special effects to the next level, Cameron was forced to get creative with Aliens, using various techniques to bring his insectoid Xenomorph aliens to life.

Aliens was the last time Cameron delved into the horror genre, but he continued to become a major force in science fiction, furthering special effects technology used in films like 1989's The Abyss - one of the first movies to employ computer generated imagery. The processes that Cameron's FX team used to bring the alien water creatures to life in The Abyss were also used in the 1991 sequel to Terminator entitled Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Cameron then went on to direct the action film True Lies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis and future vampire slayer Eliza Dushku. Cameron was also the creator and executive producer of the sci-fi series Dark Angel, which ran on the Fox Network from 2000 to 2002. One of the supporting cast members from season 2 of Dark Angel, Jensen Ackles, would later go on to star in the CW Network hit series Supernatural playing the role of smarmy monster hunter Dean Winchester.

In 1997, James Cameron directed the epic historical piece Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett. The movie was the first film to gross 1 billion dollars worldwide and remained at the number 1 slot in theaters for fifteen weeks straight. If ever there was a movie that could even come close to competing with the success of Titanic, it was James Cameron's 2009 alien epic Avatar starring Alien 's Sigourney Weaver and Terminator Salvation star Sam Worthington. Avatar grossed $2,782,206,970, making it the 14th-highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. and Canada. On a worldwide basis, Avatar ranked third after adjusting for inflation, behind Gone with the Wind and Titanic.

Notes & Trivia

 * Designed the concept of the Alien queen in Aliens.


 * James Cameron was referenced in the college film study group scene in the 1997 movie Scream 2.