A 30-Year-Old James Cameron Film Set a World Record Laughable by Today's Standards (2024)

There was a time, not all that long ago, when movie budgets weren't nearly as inflated as they are today. In the '70s and '80s, it was uncommon for a film to cost somewhere in the ballpark of one of the world's smallest five GDPs. Today, hearing that a movie cost north of $100 million to make isn't uncommon at all, and the movie that kicked it all off was one no one expected: James Cameron's True Lies.

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, True Lies became a Guinness World Record holder the moment it was released for being the first film ever to cross the $100 million mark in budget. Cameron would break his record three years later, and big-time blockbuster costs have skyrocketed ever since. Was True Lies worthy of such an accomplishment, and what has the aftermath resulted in?

What Is True Lies About?

The Indiscretions of a Marriage Crossed-Over With the World of Espionage

Considering what big-budget movies have evolved into over the past thirty years (which is to say, VFX sizzle reels), it's somewhat alluring that the world's first $100 million movie wasn't just practically made for the most part; it also featured a humorous premise that probably could have been made for half of its allotted budget. Not that it doesn't put that money to good use, because True Lies combines comedy and action into one giant, entertaining thrill ride.

True Lies tells the story of Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger), who has kept a secret from his wife, Helen (Curtis), for their entire relationship. That secret is, of course, that Harry is a secret agent working for a clandestine organization known as Omega Sector. When Harry discovers that Helen is experiencing something of a midlife crisis and begins craving a more adventurous lifestyle, he stages a mission that will allow Helen to live out her dreams in a controlled environment. Or so he thinks.

The mission goes off the rails when a terrorist organization at odds with Omega Sector, known as Crimson Jihad, smuggles nuclear weapons into the United States and kidnaps both Harry and Helen. Once Harry's lifelong deception has been revealed, he and Helen must put aside their marital differences and work together to stop the terrorists in a series of extended action sequences that are honestly as funny as they are thrilling. Having worked with Schwarzenegger numerous times, James Cameron knew he had under-utilized comedic chops and took advantage of that fact spectacularly while leaning into the film's screwball comedic roots.

Why Was True Lies' Budget So Large?

It Was Practically Made and had a Little Bit of Something for Everyone

Knowing he was about to make the most expensive film of all time, James Cameron had a monumental task: finding a way to make this project worthwhile. To do so, he wrote a script that crossed all four quadrants of appeal. In other words, a movie that could appeal to the young, old, male, and female. Most of the time (including his two previous Terminator films), Cameron could have gotten away with a premise that only spoke to one or perhaps two of those audiences. Now, he had to combine all four, and Cameron found the exact way to do so.

By casting Arnold Schwarzenegger in his next significant action role, James Cameron covered at least half of those quadrants in the young and male demographics. With performances like Terminator, Commando, and Predator still fresh in audiences' minds, young men from all across the globe were practically guaranteed to turn out no matter what the film was about. To make sure he got more mature audiences and women in the theater as well, Cameron made the strategic decision to turn True Lies into much more of a (romantic) comedy than any of Schwarzenegger's previous films; one with plenty of action, sex-appeal, and cartoonish charm.

From this film's epic opening, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger effectively gets the James Bond cold open pre-title treatment by infiltrating a social gathering in the most Goldfinger-like way possible, to the utterly ridiculous but hilarious horseback chase sequence through the city streets, True Lies steadily increases its action, humor, and drama from beginning to end, as precisely as a Swiss clock.

Don't believe me? Look no further than True Lie's incredible final stretch, which sees Harry come clean to Helen thanks to the (amusing) use of truth serum, before the two escape capture, destroy the terrorist base, survive a harrowing chase sequence on Seven Mile Bridge, which in turn leads to a fighter jet sequence in the skies of Miami (you read that right) and ends with one of Arnold's cringiest but also perfectly-apt one-liners. When the terrorist leader is dispatched while equipped to one of the plane's rockets, Arny shamelessly quips, "You're fired." Reread that last paragraph, and you'll quickly realize why this film costs so much.

How Have Movie Budgets Expanded Since Then?

Up, Up, and Away

To be sure, movie budgets have been rising steadily since the art form's advent. During the silent era, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) set a record for the most expensive film ever made, which lasted well into the sound era. Once television appeared on the market, film producers recognized that they would have to increase budgets further to draw audiences out of their homes and into the theater. That train of thought culminated in the creation of Cleopatra (1963), which became a notorious flop (despite being the highest-earning film of the year) because it still did not earn back its costs during that initial release.

Then came True Lies in 1994, which crossed the $100 million threshold for the first time and brought back nearly $400 million worldwide. Emboldened by his success, James Cameron did what he would continue to do with every movie he's made since: He raised the bar by producing and directing Titanic, which cost double what True Lies did and came in at $200 million. Ever since then, it's become standard practice for Hollywood to make tent-pole movies that cost north of $100 million. In fact, in the ten years between 1995 (one year after the release of True Lies) and 2004, only 60 Hollywood movies ever crossed the $100 million threshold. But between 2005 and 2014, that number dramatically increased to 197.

Before the 21st Century arrived, $100 million movies accounted for around 4% of Hollywood's domestic output. By 2017, this number would balloon to over 12%. As big-budget movies have increased, it's come at the expense of "mid-budget" movies (costing between $50 million and $100 million). There's little doubt that the death of the physical home market regarding DVDs and Blu-rays has hit these films particularly hard and reduced their chances of making back their budgets should they have failed to do so in the theater.

In 2021, the average movie budget reached $87 million, well over double its level from the early 2010s. An unintended (but inescapable) side effect of this process is that as these blockbuster films became more expensive to make, more needed to be spent on their marketing to offset the risk of losing money, ironically inflating the budget of tent-pole films even further. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to determine that this cycle is unsustainable. In recent years, directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have predicted an implosion in big-budget filmmaking as studios are forced to make fewer and fewer films because the ones they are making are getting too expensive for their own good.

What is the Most Expensive Film Ever Made Today?

A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away Came a Franchise More Expensive Than Any Other

The other outcome of the ever-increasing Hollywood budget is that Hollywood has become increasingly secretive about its actual budgets, often faking numbers to make movies seem more profitable than they are. As such, it's surprisingly difficult to determine which film is the most expensive ever made today. Based on everything we've been told, Star Wars: The Force Awakens holds the official title for the world's most costly film, costing a reported $447 million.

Ironically enough, James Cameron's recent Avatar: The Way of the Water might have cost even more than that if it's on the higher side of its reported price tag between $350 and $460 million. Meanwhile, Avengers: Infinity Wars and Avengers: Endgame are the most expensive back-to-back film productions, reportedly costing over $1 billion.

True Lies might have been the first movie to cross the $100 million threshold, but it was not the last. If anything, True Lies seems to have served as the necessary permission directors (and Hollywood) needed to steadily increase their budgets to try and wring the most out of their films. Honestly, it's seldom worked out that way, but at least True Lies put every red-cent of its budget to good use, creating one of the most entertaining action films ever.

True Lies

Action

Comedy

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A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.

Director

James Cameron

Release Date

July 15, 1994

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , Tia Carrere

Runtime

141 minutes

Production Company

Lightstorm Entertainment