James Cameron had exactly one feature film credit to his name when he came up with the idea for The Terminator: Piranha II: The Spawning.
After The Terminator was turned down by a bunch of shortsighted Hollywood types who clearly couldn’t see into the future, James Cameron brought his police chief from Piranha II: The Spawning to a pitch meeting in costume.
In a 30-year anniversary oral history of The Terminator, Cameron told EW that both he and producer/cowriter Gale Anne Hurd were against the idea.