I'll be back

History

The line "I'll be back" was first spoken by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film The Terminator. His character, a cyborg assassin, is turned away at a police station where his targets, Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, are being held. After looking over the front desk, he calmly tells the sergeant on duty, "I'll be back." Shortly after, he crashes a car into the station, demolishes the counter, and kills everyone inside.

During a 2012 interview on Good Morning America, Schwarzenegger explained that he struggled to pronounce "I'll" and asked director James Cameron to change it to "I will be back." Cameron refused but allowed him to shoot the line as many times as he wanted, with the best take making the final cut, so Schwarzenegger could try different deliveries. The line has been reused in various forms throughout the Terminator series, spoken by Schwarzenegger and other actors.

In the original film, the Terminator says it after being denied entry, then returns by driving through the front door and killing the station's staff. Schwarzenegger later said he did not think much of the line while filming. On the DVD commentary, Cameron noted he expected the line to get laughs only after viewers had seen the movie multiple times and understood what it meant. He was surprised that first-time audiences reacted strongly, having quickly grasped the character and anticipated the extreme violence that the casual remark foreshadowed.

In Shaun Hutson's novelization of the film, the Terminator says "I'll come back" instead of "I'll be back" on page 117. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, released in 1991, the Terminator tells Sarah and John Connor, "Stay here, I'll be back," during their escape from the Cyberdyne building. He returns by driving a truck through the front door to rescue them, echoing the earlier scene. A fitness advertisement on the initial VHS releases ended with Schwarzenegger telling viewers, "And if you're still not convinced, I'll be back."