Schwarzenegger talks the upcoming Breacher, the now classic Predator, the failed Crusades, and more

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Most action fans are pretty excited to see Arnold Schwarzenegger stepping out of the political limelight and getting back into the movie spotlight.  It will have been almost ten years since the actor/governator graced the screen in a lead role by the time his upcoming THE LAST STAND hits theaters with a bevy of projects to follow.  It’s about damn time. 

In the latest issue of Empire, Schwarzenegger reveals some interesting bits about his role in David Ayer’s (END OF WATCH) upcoming BREACHER, the appeal of PREDATOR, the “almost’s” of DIE HARD and THE ROCK, and finally, the failure of Paul Verhoeven’s CRUSADE film at the hands of the director. 

On BREACHER and it’s similarity to PREDATOR:

“BREACHER, especially, will be very like a new PREDATOR,” he adds. “It’s a team around me and they get knocked off until there’s only me left. Except in this case there will be a different twist to the whole thing instead of some alien monster.”

“I think that PREDATOR, when I look back at it, was a very appealing kind of a movie. It was also good that I was not the only star of it. I mean, I was the star of it because at the end the focus goes to me, but you can let other people shine too – give them screen time and not be in every scene. So I think that’s what I like about BREACHER and the way it’s written. But it is a great character, an extremely interesting character and very well written. David Ayers is really talented.”

On an encounter with a drug-induced Don Simpson about THE ROCK:

As Arnie tells the tale, ’80s super producer Don Simpson burst into his trailer “totally stoned” one day with 85 pages of THE ROCK‘s script with handwritten notes all over it by Jerry Bruckheimer.

“He says, ‘Here, look at this script. But don’t read it! Just, here’s what the premise is. He was all over the place,” he explains. “I said, ‘Look, Don. I can’t make a commitment based on what you’re showing me here. You won’t even let me read the script! Why don’t you bake it some more, develop it some more then we’ll talk again.’ He was very upset. He just walked out and then went to Nicolas Cage with the part…”

Schwarzenegger as John McClane?:

As for DIE HARD, “…there was an unfinished script, which someone gave me and said, ‘Would you want to play this?’ I was working with Joel Silver on PREDATOR and DIE HARD was his next movie. So we talked about it but then he hired Bruce Willis.”

Verhoeven sinks CRUSADE:

“It was all written and ready to go but then Paul started going crazy. We had the final meeting with the studio and we were all sitting at this boardroom table. They said, ‘So the budget is $100 million. That’s a lot of money. What kind of guarantees do you have that we will get it for 100 and it won’t go up to 130?'”

“He says, ‘What do you mean, guarantees’?” booms Schwarzenegger, imitating the Dutch firebrand auteur. “There’s no such thing as guarantees! Guarantees don’t happen and if anyone promises you guarantees, they’re lying! We don’t even know that if you want out of the building here you won’t get hit by a truck. There’s no guarantee that we’re going to make it ’til tomorrow! I cannot have control over God – I don’t even believe in God, why am I talking about God? But someone, nature, could just rain for three months and then what do we do? How can I give you a guarantee? This is ludicrous!”

“I kept kicking him under the table and trying to tell him to shut up while we’re ahead,” Arnie adds. “But he just wouldn’t, and that was it. That was the end of that movie. Paul always tried to be honest, but you can be a little bit selective about when to be honest and when to just move on with the project. It was a shame.”

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard Arnold talk movies and with such a wide array of films to his credit the guy has most definitely got some stories to tell.  Being the most bankable action star in his heyday, he was probably offered everything under the sun, so it’s cool just to imagine what could’ve been.  Schwarzenegger will next be seen in THE LAST STAND, which opens January 18, 2013, followed by THE TOMB on September 27, 2013.  He is currently prepping BREACHER, UNKNOWN SOLDIER, and the unfortunate TRIPLETS (sequel to TWINS). 

If your thirst for all things Schwarzenegger is still present, then you can always pick up his memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, which hits bookshelves on October 1, 2012.  Here’s the trailer (yes, a trailer for a book.  I know.):