As predictable as we thought they would be, Hollywood execs have jumped on the '
come and get me' plea sent out by
Arnold Schwarzenegger last month for a proposed eight year return to acting, and several of the former Governor of California's big roles have already been offered his way for reprisal by studio's desperate to be the first to capitalise on the actor's big return.
Speaking at The Arnold Classic event recently, Schwarzenegger reveled a few of his past movies that have been offered to him;
"Well, first of all it's more 15 films, obvious ones from The Terminator to remakes of Predator and The Running Man and all of those things. Then also a lot of original stuff too. But I am also packaging a Comic Book character right now. I'm going to announce that sometime by the end of March or the beginning of April."
The offer to return to The Terminator franchise was already half-confirmed as most recently we heard
Universal were attempting to setup a a new film in the franchise from Fast & Furious writing & directing duo
Justin Lin and
Chris Morgan. I can only imagine they would want Arnie to play a human character, albeit a major one, because at his age now, after so much notable aging has taken place, I can't see him back as the T-800.
Quint at AICN has already suggested he could play "a scientist or something and they pull a Data/Bishop angle and have the creator base his creation on himself" - which seems to be the best way they could go with this. But that Universal/Terminator deal is a long way from being confirmed and more importantly, with Arnie clearly wanting to do movies again, Sony, Warner Bros, Paramount and others might get the idea to push through their pitch on a new Terminator movie.
The
Predator 'remake' is more of a surprise as rights holders 20th Century Fox have
the new Robert Rodriguez series they were focusing on and last we heard they were hoping to sequelize. So I'm not sure about that one. And finally, a remake to
The Running Man? Meh, who needs to see a guy in his mid 60's leading that? Utter studio desperation. And the comic book role he talks about? Clearly it sounds like a leading role and something he is putting together himself, which probably rules out anything from Marvel and DC - it's probably going to be an independent. I half figured that Arnie would end up in
The Golden Age, the OAP superhero film Matthew Vaughn and Jonathan Ross are trying to put together but as I say, I don't think that's what he is talking about.
Of the original movies he has on his desk, we already know of the WW-II actioner
With Wings As Eagles that places Arnie as a sympathetic Nazi veteran and sounds kinda crazy. At the moment, I would suggest that would be favourite for his big screen return - though I imagine it won't be long until he does agree to remake or sequelize one of his past works. I'm thinking perhaps Commando, in a Rambo-esque fashion?