James Cameron is best known for directing mega hits like Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, and Avatar, but he’s also been involved with other projects in various capacities. His producing credits include titles like Solaris and Alita: Battle Angel, and he had a hand in writing Rambo: First Blood Part II and Strange Days. That latter film was directed by Cameron’s ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, and it isn’t the only time the two collaborated on a movie. Cameron was an executive producer on Bigelow’s ’90s classic Point Break, but it’s also an urban legend that he wrote the script as well. Now, Cameron has cleared things up.
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Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter for a profile tied to the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, Cameron addressed the rumors about his involvement with Point Break. “I wrote Point Break,” Cameron said. “I flat out got stiffed by the Writers Guild on that. It was bulls***.” Officially, the Point Break script is credited to W. Peter Iliff.
1991 Was a Big Year for James Cameron
By the time 1991 rolled around, Cameron already had The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss under his belt, but he leveled up even further that year. Not only did he write Point Break, his Terminator 2 was released in 1991, so Cameron was a major creative force in two of the year’s best action movies. Being able to add just one of these classics to your filmography would be a significant enough accomplishment, yet alone both within a week of each other (Terminator 2 and Point Break were released in early July 1991). Terminator 2 became the highest-grossing film of the year, bringing in $204.8 million domestically. Point Break wasn’t nearly as big of a draw — getting stuck in the shadow of T2 — but it still earned $43.2 million and helped launch Keanu Reeves’ action career.
Cameron didn’t elaborate on the issue with the Writers Guild in his Hollywood Reporter interview, but it’s a little surprising that he didn’t receive credit for the Point Break screenplay. He was very much involved with the process, helping revise the shooting script and ironing out key details such as the Ex-Presidents bank-robbing group. A case can be made that Point Break would not be as beloved as it is if it weren’t for Cameron’s contributions. As director, Bigelow obviously gets the lion’s share of the credit for Point Break being an adrenaline-packed thrill ride, but the script and the dynamic that unfolds between the characters elevates the film (particularly the bond between Bodhi and Johnny Utah), turning it into something special.
It goes without saying that Cameron’s career trajectory wasn’t negatively impacted by the Point Break writing credit issue. He followed up Terminator 2 with fan-favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle True Lies before winning Oscars and breaking box office records with Titanic. For the better part of the past two decades, Cameron’s been busy making Avatar movies, which have also become some of the highest-grossing films of all time. While it certainly would have been nice for Cameron if he had received proper credit for Point Break, it’s not as if he missed opportunities. Terminator 2 was the bigger deal, cementing Cameron as a director with a bold, ambitious vision.
Point Break may not be the first film that comes to mind when one thinks of Cameron, but it’s still a part of his legacy. Cameron revisiting this point now probably won’t do anything when it comes to clearing things up with the Writers Guild, though it’s an interesting bit of trivia for Point Break fans to keep in the back of their minds the next time they rewatch the movie. If anything, reading about this story could encourage viewers to do some Point Break research and find out how different things could have been if Cameron didn’t write the script.
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