Linda Hamilton Hit The Jackpot After Divorcing James Cameron: It All Boiled Down To Her One Request To Agree To The Split

SUMMARY

• Linda Hamilton's marriage with James Cameron concluded after two years.
• This was linked to Cameron's newfound match in one Titanic star.
• Hamilton ended up securing $50M as a result of the divorce settlement.

Apart from dominating the box office with his ambitious releases, James Cameron is also notable for jumping ships when it comes to his love life. Having been married five times, the Avatar: The Way of Water director was once romantically linked with Linda Hamilton, with whom he tied the knot in ’97.

James Cameron | Credit: Angela George, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

However, his marriage with the actress didn’t last long after Cameron crossed paths with Suzy Amis during Titanic, and the settlement between Hamilton and the revered filmmaker wasn’t exactly cheap.

Linda Hamilton’s marriage with James Cameron ended on an expensive note

Linda Hamilton in Terminator: Dark Fate | Credit: Paramount Pictures

Although Cameron had already established himself as one of the big players in the realm of filmmaker, thanks to releases like Aliens and Terminator, it was Titanic that popped him to the top in terms of financial gain. As for his marriage with Linda Hamilton, with whom he initially crossed paths during Terminator‘s production, Cameron ended up parting ways with the actress after finding his next match in Titanic star Suzy Amis.

While the Terminator star later confessed that she saw it coming, adding “Suzy at that time was the gargoyle on the end of my bed, waiting to swoop in,” she did take half of Cameron’s Titanic proceedings as a result of the divorce. Considering the Avatar director had reportedly already earned $100M from Titanic at the time of their split, Hamilton took home a whopping $50M, making it one of the most expensive divorce settlements in Hollywood history.

Linda Hamilton deemed her marriage with Cameron a mystery

Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Credit: Orion Pictures

Interestingly, this wasn’t the lone instance in which James Cameron opted to leave his then-wife for a new partner, as he had previously divorced Kathryn Bigelow to pursue a romantic bond with the Terminator star. Elaborating on the duo’s short-lived marriage, which concluded in ’99, Hamilton added even before Amis’ involvement the duo was terribly mismatched, stressing (via The New York Times) that their entire relationship was a mystery.

That relationship was a mystery to all of us — even Jim and myself — because we are terribly mismatched. I used to say we fit together like a puzzle: Everywhere he’s convex, I’m concave.

On the flip side, despite losing half of his earnings from Titanic at the time, which has amassed him a reported $650M over the years, Cameron is still hitting it big at the box office. Moreover, unlike his previous four marriages, his bond with Suzy Amis has lasted over two decades, and it seems the two have no intentions of splitting up anytime soon, at least as of now.

Titanic is available to stream on Disney Plus.

Written by Santanu Roy

Articles Published: 1982

Santanu Roy is a film enthusiast with a deep love for the medium of animation while also being obsessed with The Everly Brothers, Billy Joel, and The Platters. Having expertise in everything related to Batman, Santanu spends most of his time watching and learning films, with Martin Scorsese and Park Chan-wook being his personal favorites. Apart from pursuing a degree in animation, he also possesses a deep fondness for narrative-driven games and is currently a writer at Fandomwire with over 1500 articles.