Ridley Scott Says He Turned Down $20M For 'Terminator 3'

Although Ridley Scott is down to take on gladiators and aliens, the Terminator franchise is where he drew the line.

The 4x Oscar-nominated director claimed he passed on an eight-figure payday to helm Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as he thought he’d “fuck it up” by trying to “make it real.”

“I’m proud about this. I turned down a $20M fee. See, I can’t be bought, dude,” he told The Guardian . “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: ‘Fuck me.’ But I couldn’t do it. It’s not my thing.”

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