“I’ll be back…”
Well, apparently, he won’t, as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has officially ruled out any further returns to the Terminator franchise in a recent interview.
“The franchise is not done. I’m done. I got the message loud and clear that the world wants to move on with a different theme when it comes to The Terminator. Someone has to come up with a great idea. The Terminator was largely responsible for my success, so I always would look at it very fondly. The first three movies were great. Number four [Salvation] I was not in because I was governor. Then five [Genisys] and six [Dark Fate] didn’t close the deal as far as I’m concerned. We knew that ahead of time because they were just not well written.”
It seems Arnold Schwarzenegger has his mind made up and is being refreshingly honest about his feelings towards his last turn in the franchise. 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate was a legacy sequel in the vein of 2018’s Halloween, bringing back Schwarzenegger and actress Linda Hamilton, ignoring the events of parts 3 through 5. It was hoped that it would repeat the monster success of 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day and pave the way for a brand-new trilogy. However, the film tanked at the box-office pulling only $261 million on a $200 million budget. Schwarzenegger is no doubt just confirming what we all suspected, he’s walking away from a franchise that has lost favour with audiences.
However, the actor is hopeful for a return to his other breakout role, that of Conan the Barbarian. Schwarzenegger spoke in the same interview about his longing to play the role one last time, and the complex rights issues that continually stall the project.
“It’s been pending for the last 10 years. [Fredrik] Malmberg owns the rights. He comes to me and says, ‘Oh, I have a deal with Netflix,’ and when we ask Netflix, they don’t know anything about it. It’s one of those crazy things. I hope he figures it out. I think you do it like Unforgiven, where you play the age. There’s a great script out there that John Milius wrote, and others have written one. The story is there. There are directors who want to do it. But [Malmberg] has the rights, and until he sells the rights for one or two movies, or for the franchise, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Allegedly given the title The Legend of Conan, it is undeniable Schwarzenegger is passionate about the project. But will his pull be enough to get Conan charging back onto the big screen? We’ll have to wait and see.rdlko69
