This weekend, James Cameron delivers Sanctum, a rare Cameron produced movie that he didn't direct. But how did Cameron, the director of the two most successful films of all time, get to this point after his disaster of a big-screen debut, Piranha II: The Spawning? You can always trace a direct line through a handful of projects (not necessarily his best projects, mind you) to illustrate what led to a director's current success. And with Cameron, it appears, up to this point, everything that he touches turns into gold (literally, because, you know, his movies make a lot of money).
Xenogenesis (1978)
James Cameron's first credited film. Well, at least it's his first short film. Wikipedia describes the plot as, "A woman and an engineered man are sent in a gigantic sentient starship to search space for a place to start a new life cycle. Raj decides to take a look around the ship. He comes across a gigantic robotic cleaner. Combat ensues." Actually, save for a couple of his films, pretty much every James Cameron film can be summed up as "combat ensues."
Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)
I learned the hard way, but James Cameron is not really a fan of the Piranha franchise. Cameron, in his first big time directing credit, clashed with the producer and was fired after only, as he says, "a few days." Still, when looking at Cameron's filmography, Piranha II remains significant as the first troubled project in a career filled with contentious shoots and obsessive perfectionism -- even for a Piranha movie. It's just that in 1981 Cameron was not yet "James Cameron"; he was let go, but his name stayed on the credits.
The Terminator (1984)
Now here's the first movie that Cameron wants to be remembered for directing. He's said he dreamed a few scenes from the first Terminator film while he was filming Piranha II: The Spawning; at least something good came out that shoot for him? Also, for better or worse, Cameron turned a guy who had been a bodybuilder and featured in a couple of Conan the Barbarian movies into an international superstar. After Terminator -- which grossed over $78 million on $6.5 million budget -- Cameron could afford to be choosy. And he was...
Aliens (1986)
James Cameron isn't afraid to take an pre-existing entity of cultural significance and make it absolutely his own. While Ridley Scott's Alien defined sci-fi horror in 1979, Cameron's sequel is more, well, "combat ensues." Regardless, Cameron sculpted an Oscar-nominated performance out of Sigourney Weaver (yes, in 1986 an actor could be nominated for an Oscar while starring in a sci-fi movie) and led Aliens to a $131 million global box-office turnout.
The Abyss (1989)
The Abyss, often considered one of Cameron's best films, is also considered one of his greatest financial failures. Given a $70 million budget, The Abyss only earned $54 million domestically. Hurt a bit by a similar underwater themed film, Leviathan, released only a few months before -- and being Cameron's only film to that point not to feature monsters or space aliens front and center -- audiences did not immediately connect with The Abyss. The movie's legacy might be more for its technological breakthroughs in underwater filming than any box-office result could have produced. Cameron, not surprisingly, did not hold back on his next project despite the financial setback.
Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
I hate including two films from the same franchise on these lists, but it's hard to ignore what the first and the second Terminator films meant for Cameron's career. These were the early days of CGI and Cameron (along with Jurassic Park a couple of years later) introduced the world to this new way to produce effects in the form of a new liquid-metal, shape-shifting Terminator. Also, a kick-ass song by Guns 'n' Roses didn't hurt, either.
Titanic (1997)
I am an adamant defender of Titanic. Look, anytime a film becomes as big -- and thus overexposed -- as this did, combat backlash will ensue. But, on its own, Cameron took a film that -- keeping in mind the budget, cost overruns and production delays -- shouldn't have done anything but failed and somehow made it into the most successful movie of all time -- for the next 12 years, anyway. Even today, Titanic doesn't look dated, an attribute cursing most Cameron films. Ultimately, Cameron proved once and for all that not only is he the most stubborn filmmaker in Hollywood, but he's also one of the smartest. Also, a kick-ass song by Celine Dion didn't hurt, either.
Avatar (2009)
Avatar may be the first James Cameron film that we look back on in 20 years and say, "Hmm, well those effects look dated." Which is probably going to be the case with any mostly CGI-rendered film considering how much technology improves every passing year. But beyond being the highest-grossing movie ever made, James Cameron ushered in a new era of movies -- the upscale 3-D movie. This was Cameron's point about the new Piranha film -- that "it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3-D horror films from the '70s and '80s." Agree or disagree, it's obvious that Cameron isn't entirely pleased about the plethora of 3-D films today unless they're certain types of films -- which is to say, films produced the Cameron Way. (Enter Sanctum.) Love Cameron or hate him, he did 3-D right.
Follow Mike Ryan on Twitter
Follow Movieline on Twitter