Arnold Schwarzenegger Wanted to “Outdo Stallone” by Killing a Ton of People in TERMINATOR 2

It’s no secret that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone had a heated rivalry in the ‘80s and ‘90s. In fact, the two actually hated each other as they were trying to be the biggest and baddest action stars in Hollywood. They’re friends now, but their rivalry was serious business.   

Schwarzenegger recently participated in a panel at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures ahead of Terminator 2: Judgment Day screening (via Deadline), and while there he talked about the different vision that he had for Terminator 2, he wanted to take it in a different direction than director James Cameron as he wanted to kill a ton of people in the movie! He explained:

"The reason why it became a big hit was, number one, Jim Cameron. Jim Cameron is a genius writer. He came up with this brilliant idea, even though at the beginning I was suspicious. He said 'I want to make you a good Terminator.'"

He went on to say that he didn’t like the idea of a good Terminator and instead wanted to kill 150 people to outdo Stallone. He said:

"I said 'What do you mean a good Terminator?' I was killing 68 people in the first one. In the second one I have to kill 150. We go up! Cut their throats and shoot them with a cannon and run them over with a car.' I had to outdo Stallone. I said that my whole mission was being number one at killing amounts of people on screen."

As Cameron tried to explain his vision, the actor still wasn’t having it:

"He said 'Arnold, stop it. You're a very sick guy. I am gonna make sure that in Terminator 2, you're not gonna kill one single person,'" Schwarzenegger recalled. "I said that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How can this be Terminator 2 without me killing anyone? At least throw a few token bodies in there."

Obviously, Cameron made the movie he wanted to make and not the one Schwarzenegger wanted to make, and it’s one of the greatest sci-films that has ever been made!