Ridley Scott ‘proud’ of turning down $20 million offer to direct Terminator 3

Ridley Scott is “proud” of the fact that he turned down a $20 million (£15 million) offer to direct the third Terminator movie.

James Cameron created the iconic sci-fi franchise and directed the first two films, 1984’s The Terminator and its 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

When the team decided to continue the series a decade later with 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, they turned to Scott to see if he’d like to direct.

Recalling his decision in an interview with The Guardian, the Gladiator director revealed that he was offered the same amount as the leading man, Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the major payday couldn’t tempt him to take on the project.

“I’m proud about this. I turned down a $20m fee. See, I can’t be bought, dude,” he stated. “Someone said: ‘Ask what Arnie gets.’ I thought: ‘I’ll try it out.’ I said: ‘I want what Arnie gets.’ When they said yes, I thought: ‘F**k me.’ But I couldn’t do it. It’s not my thing.”

The Alien filmmaker explained that he isn’t the person to direct films like Terminator or James Bond because he would want to make them more grounded and realistic.

“It’s like doing a Bond movie. The essence of a Bond movie is fun and camp. Terminator is pure comic strip,” he continued. “I would try to make it real. That’s why they’ve never asked me to do a Bond movie, because I could f**k it up.”

Jonathan Mostow was ultimately hired to direct Terminator 3. That was followed by three more instalments – Terminator Salvation, Terminator Genisys and Terminator: Dark Fate, which were directed by McG, Alan Taylor and Tim Miller, respectively.

Last year, Cameron revealed he was working on a secret Terminator project; however, it is unclear if Schwarzenegger would return, as he declared in 2023 that he was “done” with the franchise.