But being a fresher in the field, he was not given the needed chance despite having many great ideas for his first movie that was The Terminator. But as it is said that no one can stop you from your destination. Finally, after a lot of struggles, being impressed with his ideas of the screenplay and his determination made a producer agree to invest in the movie idea of the then fresher is James Cameron. In the movie, the lead role was played by the popular star of all time named Arnold Schwarzenegger. With having such an innovative screenplay idea and with such an awesome cast, the movie made a huge success in the box office. With this time went on, and neither was there a need or any necessity to look back to his days of struggle. He made more and more successful record-breaking movies. Some of his notable works can be named Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2:Judgement Day, True Lies, Titanic, and the popular hit movies that we all love is Avatar. His success touched sky highs after the release of his most popular movie titled Avatar. Since then, he was regarded as one of the most successful filmmakers in the world. Not only is he popular for his successful field of making, producing, and directing movies, but he is also concerned about the current environmental issues such as the pollution of oceans due to oil spills. Through his movies, we can also understand his passion for science. Seeing his passion for science, he is given the prestigious post of being a member of NASA’s Advisory Council.
Childhood and Education
Born on the 16th of August in 1954, in the beautiful city of Kapuskasing was the famous filmmaker of Canada name James Francis Cameron or, as we may know him, James Cameron. Though not much is known about his family, we still know about his schooling and college years. He completed his middle school at the Stamford Collegiate School, which is located in Ontario itself. Later for his high school, he was enrolled in a popular school named Troy High School, which is in California. Having a love for science, he got admitted to Fullerton College to pursue his course in Physics. But soon enough, he discovered his passion for films and filmmaking. To support his dreams and aspiration, he took up odd jobs, such a working as a truck driver.
Career
Like many others, James Cameron was also inspired by the book. He was inspired by the book written by the popular American screenwriter name Syd Field. The book was titled as named Screenplay. Being inspired by the script, Cameron wrote the script of his first short film, which was titled Xenogenesis. The movie was a ten minutes movie under the genre of science fiction. Being impressed with his work, he was hired by the Roger Corman Studios. His job there was to make the small and minute models in low-budget movies. After some time, he was chosen to be the director of art in the popular movie of 1980 named Battle Beyond the Stars. Following the success of the movie, he earned many more works for the movies of the science fiction genre. In two consecutive years, that is, in 1981-1982, he worked for many films, namely Escape from New York, Galaxy of Terror as well as Android. Other than he also started working in the second installation of the movie named Piranha. The second installation was titled Piranha II: The Spawning. But being unable to shoot a scene, which was a close-up shot of the star named Carole Davis. He got fired. But then also he was again chosen as the assistant director of the producer named Ovidio Assonitis. After learning to work as an assistant director and as a producer, he became capable of making his own movie. The name of his first movie was The Terminator. Having such a great screenplay, he manages to convince the popular production house, which belonged to his old colleague named Gale Anne Hurd, to help him produce his movie. Finally, in 1984, his first movie, The Terminator was premiered under the popular production house named Pacific Western Productions. Since the movie was his debut movie, he had a budget of $6.5million. As it is said, no one can stop from success. Having the budget, he earned somewhere around $78million. After the success of the first movie, he works more for more movies. He wrote the screenplay for the movie named Rambo: First Blood Part II. The movie was edited by Sylvester Stallone and was directed by none other than but the popular director named George P. Cosmatos. The movie was premiered in 1985. Having such a great screenplay and extravagant cast, the movie not only impressed the critics but also made a huge success in the box office. In the following year, that is, in 1986, he made another blockbuster movie named Aliens. The movie was an installment of the popular movie of the renowned director named Ridley Scott named Alien. The movie was released back in 1979. Not only did it received huge success in the box office, but it was many nominations for the prestigious that is Academy Award. After a period of three years, that is in 1989; he directed another blockbuster movie named The Abyss. Other than being directed by such a great director, the movie had an awesome cast consisting of Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in the major lead roles. One of the greatest scenes of the movie was the popular underwater shoot. Other than that, the movie had a huge budget of $41million. After some time, that is in 1991; he released the second installment of the popular movie named Terminator 2: Judgment Day was premiered. In the second installment as well, he worked with the earlier cast, that is, the male lead role was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the female lead role was portrayed by Linda Hamilton. Not only did the movie caught the eyes of the critics, but it also made a huge box-office amount of somewhere around $500million. The proudest moment of the director is when his movies win Oscar. For his movie, he won not one but four Oscars. The Oscars that the movie won were under the following categories, namely Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing as well as Best Sound Effects Editing. After a couple of years, that is, in 1993, they collaborated with the popular person who is known for his skills of giving special effects named Scott Ross and Stan Winston. Together they made the firm named Digital Domain. The company has its main hub in California. In this company, they mostly create special effects for movies. After receiving success from the popular company, in the following couple of years, that is, in 1994-1995, Cameron made a back-to-back blockbuster movie titled True Lies, which had Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead roles. Other than that, Strange Days had Ralph Fiennes in the lead roles. Not only did both the movies got praises and appreciation from the audience, but they also caught the eyes of the critics. But though the first movie earned a huge box-office amount, the second movie did not perform that well in the box-office as compared to the first. After a few years that is in 1997, he directed the famous cult movie we all love named Titanic. The male lead role was played by none other but Leonardo DiCaprio, and the female lead role was played by none other than but the popular star named Kate Winslet. The movie was made on a high budget of somewhere around $200million. But as it is said, slow and steady wins the race. Though the movie was unable to make much in the first week then gradually it made a huge box-office amount of somewhere around $600.8million becoming the highest-earning movie of all time. Let me tell you this the previous amount is just its earning in the United States. Around the world, the movie earned somewhere around $2billion With all these great movies, not only did he became famous, but he also made many great movies. Not only is he popular for directing movies on the big screen, but he is also popular on the small screen. For a couple of years, that is from 2000-2002; he made much popular television series and some popular show of the science fiction genre named Dark Angel. In that show, the lead role was played by Jessica Alba. In the upcoming years, he focused on making mainly documentaries films. His documentary movies were mainly based on the environmental banner titled Earthship Productions. Under this banner, he made many great documentaries, namely Expedition: Bismarck, Ghosts of the Abyss, Aliens of the Deep, and The Lost Tomb of Jesus. Other than this movie, he also worked as a producer in Steven Soderbergh’s popular movie named Solaris. The movie has a great cast, with George Clooney in the lead role. After some time, that is in 2009; he premiered another of his popular movies, which was a 3D movie titled Avatar. Not only did the producer and the director of the movie was awesome, but the movie also has a great cast which includes Zoe Saldana in the female lead role and Sigourney Weaver in the male lead role. Having such a great cast and team of such awesome producers and directors, the movie made a world-breaking record and earned more than his first record-breaking movie, which was Titanic. The film Avatar earned somewhere around $1billion becoming the highest-grossing film to date. After a couple of years, the awesome director made another 3D movie titled Sanctum. In that movie, he worked as the executive producer.
Net Worth
Being such a great producer and having a list of record-breaking movies, James Cameron is regarded as one of the most successful and greatest directors of all time. With all this, James Cameron has a net worth of somewhere around $700million.
Awards
With being such a great director of all times, he received his first award in 1992. He was awarded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America award as well as the Bradbury Award for the movie named Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Apart from that, after a few years, he was honored with the prestigious Academy Awards for the movie named Titanic under many categories, namely Best Director, Best Film Editing as well as Best Pictures. Other than that, he was also awarded the Golden Globe award in 1998. The time when he started working on documentaries on the small screen, he won several awards at that time. He was won a series of awards and honorary doctorates in 1998, continuing up to 2004. The prestigious awards honorary doctorate included Carleton University, Ottawa, Brock University, Ontario, Ryerson University, Toronto, California State University, Fullerton, and University of Southampton, England. Apart from that, in 2010, he was awarded the Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievement Award for his spectacular movie named Avatar. Other than that, the movie also won the Golden Globe for having Best Motion Picture-Drama. In that very year, that is in 2010; he earned the first rank in the popular list of Guardian Film Power 100; apart from that, he earned his position in the list of The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures. The list was published by the renowned British magazine named New Statesman.
Personal Life
The famous director got married a total of four times in a span of 21 years, starting from 1978 continuing till 1999. The name of his spouses in those 21years was Sharon Williams, the famous producer Gale Anne Hurd, later the filmmaker named Kathryn Bigelow, as well as the female lead star of the movie The Terminator named Linda Hamilton. After some time, that is in 2000; he tied the knot with the popular American star named Suzy Amis. The couple first met on the set of Titanic. Other than that, he also has a daughter from his wife named Linda Hamilton. The name of the daughter is Josephine. Apart from that, he also has three children from his wife, Suzy. Talking about his dwelling place, he lives in New Zealand. His passion for science made him a member of the NASA Advisory Council. Not only that, but he has also helped in collecting funds for the popular non-profit organization named Mars Society. Not only is he passionate about science, but he is also concerned about the environment. Lately, he has also been a major part of the discussion that was going on with The United States Environmental Protection Agency to protect the oceans from oil spills. Moreover, to protect the environment, he, along with his family, has turned to be vegan.
