From "Red Heat" to "Nixon", independent producer Andrew Vajna has a long and distinctive career. Should "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" kerching big, he'll be back on top of Hollywood. The veteran producer talks scepticism, Arnie, and falling out with Jim Cameron...

There was a lot riding on "T3". What would have happened had it bombed?

Well, we wouldn't have liked it, that's for sure, but I don't think a producer can approach a project with the idea of failure, otherwise it will fail. So we never even thought about bombing. We thought, "How exciting can we make it?" and "How different can we make it?" So the idea of 'bombing' never entered my head.

Was James Cameron ever involved in the project?

No.

How did Jonathan Mostow get involved?

Well, when Jim refused to do the project, basically, our challenge was to find a new director. Jonathan Mostow was the guy that we felt comfortable with, having talked to many, many directors. Jonathan was the one who, I think, was ready to break out as a major Hollywood director.

Did you initially want Jim Cameron to be involved, and why wasn't he?

Sure. We have been very close friends for many years, instrumental in helping each other's success. Jim was, I think, unbeknownst to us, attempting to put Terminator together. But Fox, during the "Titanic" reign - when they weren't sure they had a big hit on their hands - were not responding to him.

That left the rights open. Mario [Kassar] and I went to buy the rights, and the first phone call we made was to Jim Cameron. We said, "We got it. Great. The ["T2"] team is back together again," and he got very upset because he felt that we "stole his baby", even though we're the ones who put it together last time round. So we felt that that was kind of strange and then we went on to do it ourselves.

Producing it independently is quite a daring move...

Well, that's not strange to us, because we always work outside the studio system and the studio for us just means a method of distribution for the product. We like to creatively do the projects ourselves, and not do it by committee. Independence is the only way we work.

How difficult was it to get Arnie involved?

Initially difficult, because he said he wouldn't do it without Jim. When he read the first draft screenplay he responded to it and said, "I want to do this movie, let me talk to Jim." He couldn't get Jim to pay attention either, so then he said, "Fine, let's find a director that we feel comfortable with." So he met Jonathan Mostow, liked his energy, liked his ideas, and decided to say yes.

The action sequences are spectacular, but do you understand the time travel?

I don't think you can get to that point, because that situation exists in number one, number two and number three, so basically I think it's just a fascination of robotics and computers and time travel and the future. It's strange, because nobody has asked that question in the 20 years the Terminator has been around. I think everybody went with the idea that it was fun.

You're from Hungary originally. How did you move to Hollywood?

You got a half hour? No, shortly, I left when I was 12-years-old, during the 1956 revolution, and I ended up in America, in the film business, several years later. That was something I'd always dreamed about, always wanted, so as it happens my childhood dream came alive.

Was there any particular film that made you think, "I want to make movies"?

I'm not sure that one particular movie did that, but several movies did that. As a young college kid I was fascinated by Ingmar Bergman and all the fantastic movies he's made. And Polanski's first film, "Knife in the Water" - these were things that blew our minds as kids.

You've worked with both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone [on the Rambo films]. Do you think they will ever work together?

There was a time when they were thinking about doing something together. I think that time may have passed. I think audiences are looking for new news, rather than Arnold and Sly together...

"T3" is something of a triumphant return, given all the scepticism about it initially. Do you think there will be a "T4"?

We love scepticism, we live on it. That's what challenges us and makes us get up in the morning, to prove everybody wrong, to make sure that we can do the impossible. As independent producers, that is our way of life.

As far as "T4" [goes], if "T3" is as big a hit as we hope for it to be, there's every chance. If the fan base demands the story to continue, we'll be happy to see if we can figure out something as exciting and smart to continue the series.

So Arnie will be back?

Let's hope so.