Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic ‘I’ll be back’ Terminator line almost never happened

One of the most iconic lines in cinema that was delivered by Arnold Schwarzenegger almost never happened - and required an argument between the star and director James Cameron to get into the film.

Cameron and Schwarzenegger first worked together on The Terminator in 1984, a move that eventually turned them both into megastars in the film world.

The Austrian bodybuilder was made for the role of the titular robot, a cold and calculating machine from the future bent only on killing.

The film was not only a box office success but remains a cult classic to this day and has spawned sequels, graphic novels, comic books, a TV series, and all sorts of merchandise.

One of the key lines that created that success is Arnie’s impeccably delivered ‘I’ll be back’.

Paramount

However, that line almost didn’t happen at all, as Arnie remembered in his recent Netflix special documentary, entitled simply Arnold.

The 75-year-old actor and his former director Cameron discussed how the whole thing went down, and it sounds as if there was some animosity between the pair at the time.

Cameron, who also wrote the movie – more on that later – explained: “Sometime in the middle of the shoot, we’re doing this police station scene.

“The line is, ‘I’ll come back.’ It wasn’t meant to be like a big moment at all.

“It was literally meant to be, on its face, ‘No problem, I’ll come back.’

“For some reason, Arnold didn’t say, ‘I’ll come back.’

“I said, ‘Well, just say ‘I’ll be back’. Keep it simple.’”

They tried that a few times, but Schwarzenegger kept saying that he wanted to make the line ‘I will be back’ instead.

That didn’t work for Cameron, though.

Schwarzenegger picked up the story: “He says, ‘Are you the writer?’

“And I said, ‘No,’ and he said, ‘Well, don’t tell me how to f***ing write.’”

In the end, the line stuck and Cameron won the fight.

Netflix

Nowadays, Schwarzenegger has the good grace to concede that the director was ‘absolutely right’ to insist on his way.

Arnie continued: “It became the most quoted movie line, I think, in the history of motion pictures.

“So this just shows to you who was right and who was wrong.”

There you have it – sometimes it’s interesting to learn about these little moments that can make or break a production, or change film history indelibly forever.

Of course, The Terminator would still have been a big worldwide hit without it, but would it have enjoyed the same worldwide renown without such a clear quotable moment?

Maybe, but it’s still fascinating to know how it came about, isn’t it?