True Lies

On The 7-Mile Bridge

For a week or so in November of 1993, director James Cameron and a crew of 250 came to Marathon to film a few scenes for True Lies - an action/adventure starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie-Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold. The crew stayed at the Knight's Key and Sombrero Resorts. The scenes were to be shot along the 7-Mile Bridge and would be part of the film's stirring climax.

Key West History reader Roberta DePiero told us about being held up in traffic during filming. "I was on my way to Marathon, had gotten stopped for probably 20 - 30 minutes. These people would come down the line of traffic with a grocery cart loaded with soft drinks and hot dogs that they were giving out to the waiting cars along with this bumper sticker. I thought it had flooded in Wilma and was happy to find it had survived!"

Another part of the Marathon filming location was the use of the Harrier jets. Three were flown in and parked at the Marathon airport at a cost of $2,410 per day - the final bill from the US government was $100,736.00