Shane Black understands why Arnold Schwarzenegger passed on The Predator

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Back in 1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in John McTiernan's PREDATOR and launched a new franchise, but Schwarzenegger wouldn't appear in any of the sequels. There was hope that Schwarzenegger would suit up as Dutch once again in Shane Black's THE PREDATOR, but the actor revealed last year that the part just wasn't substantial enough for him to sign on.

Shane Black recently chatted with Digital Spy where he confirmed that the role only would have been a cameo for Arnold Schwarzenegger. "The studio wanted a fresher movie that featured an evolving cast," Black said. "They didn't want to hinge the movie on the re-emergence of Schwarzenegger. It would probably be more of a matter of his showing up briefly and just participating at the very end, at the climax of the movie." The director went on to say that he totally understands why Arnold Schwarzenegger passed. "I completely get it – he said, 'Look, that's kind of a small part, and I don't really think I want to do that. I'm off to do Terminator with Jim Cameron, basically. Or for Jim Cameron'," Black explained. "So I totally got it, you know? If I was Schwarzenegger, I'd want to be one of the stars of a film, or nothing." However, should THE PREDATOR prove successful enough to warrant a sequel, Shane Black said that there's room for a more substantial role for Arnold Schwarzenegger if he wants it.

I even said to him, 'If you're in this one, we would open it up for the sequel, because now you're back in the franchise.' So you know, if there's another movie, there's no reason why he couldn't be either in it, or the star of it, or whatever someone decides at a future date.

Would you like to see Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the PREDATOR franchise or should it continue in a new direction?

The official synopsis for THE PREDATOR:

From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.

THE PREDATOR will hit theaters on September 14th, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray!