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Schwarzenegger is back, and Hollywood hopes he's still a star
Reuters ^ | Sunday, January 6, 2013 | Ronald Grover and Zorianna Kit

Posted on 01/06/2013 6:17:27 PM PST by SunkenCiv

A year after leaving the California governor's office and becoming tabloid fodder for fathering a boy with his family's housekeeper and splitting with his wife, Maria Shriver, the 65-year old former bodybuilder will star in no less than three Hollywood movies over the next 12 months.

None are likely to win Schwarzenegger an Oscar. Indeed, the movies, and Schwarzenegger's own fee, are low-budget compared with his global blockbusters of yore. But studio executives are betting that overseas fans especially will once again respond to a personality whose 24 films generated worldwide ticket sales of $3.9 billion, according to boxoffice.com.

"He is still a worldwide star who resonates with action audiences around the world," said Rob Friedman, the co-chairman of the Lionsgate motion picture group, which is scheduled to release his next two films. "The Last Stand" will open on January 18, and "The Tomb" in September.

"Ten," the third film, is scheduled for release in January 2014 by Open Road Films, a joint venture of the AMC and Regal Theater chains.

"When you have left the movie business for seven years, it's kind of a scary thing to come back because you don't know if you're accepted or not," Schwarzenegger said at a Saturday press event for "The Last Stand."

"There could be a whole new generation of action stars that come up in the meantime."

The actor said he was "very pleasantly surprised" by what he called a "great reaction" to his cameo in the 2010 action film "The Expendables," which featured fellow action stars Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. The film grossed $103.1 million in U.S. ticket sales and $274.5 million worldwide.

Since then, Schwarzenegger appeared in a second "Expendables" and says he will join a fifth installment of the "Terminator" if it is made.

(Excerpt) Read more at ca.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: arnoldschwarzenegger; california; schwarzenegger
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To: JoeProBono
Wow! Looking at this picture, I am now excited about this movie and really looking forward to seeing it!

Who is that Transformer in the picture, behind the old geezer? Bumblebee? I thought he was yellow.

41 posted on 01/06/2013 8:12:24 PM PST by Flatus I. Maximus (Subvert. Obstruct. Overthrow. Obama.)
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To: Lancey Howard

I enjoyed Twins, myself. But that was a long time ago.


42 posted on 01/06/2013 8:22:44 PM PST by RPTMS
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To: Flatus I. Maximus


43 posted on 01/06/2013 8:34:47 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas exercitus gerit ;-{)
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To: fatnotlazy
he's a pretty canny businessman -- he came from poverty in Austria, schemed and worked hard to be at the top of bodybuilding (read his "Bodybuilding bible" -- he studied a lot of stuff related to bodybuilding) and he handles his own finances and hasn't lost on any schemes

He then got into politics with basically no platform

he fumbled there, but that's really one of the few fumbles he's made

i'm not going to call him a conservative by any means, but he is quite an intelligent guy

44 posted on 01/07/2013 1:29:01 AM PST by Cronos (**Marriage is about commitment, cohabitation is about convenience.**)
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To: Lancey Howard

you forgot the Conan movies


45 posted on 01/07/2013 1:30:44 AM PST by Cronos (**Marriage is about commitment, cohabitation is about convenience.**)
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To: SunkenCiv

No interest whatsoever. I thought “Total Recall” [original, not the lame remake] was one of the best sci fi movies ever.


46 posted on 01/07/2013 4:09:43 AM PST by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Lancey Howard
Best Arnold movies:
1. Terminator 2
2. Terminator
3. Total Recall
4. Kindergarten Cop
5. True Lies

My personal top Arnold movies are:
1. Terminator 2 ("He will live.")
2. Conan the Barbarian ("And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!")
3. The Running Man ("Hey light bulb! Hey Christmas tree!")
4. Predator ("If it bleeds, we can kill it!")
5. Kindergarten Cop ("It's not a tumor!")

47 posted on 01/07/2013 4:17:59 AM PST by Conservative_Jedi (Give me Liberty or give me Death!!)
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To: SunkenCiv
(FYI feel free to ping your whole list)

All, I saw several movies over the weekend, so here are some mini-reviews:

"Lincoln" was excellent. I was skeptical, not about Daniel Day-Lewis, who is among the top 2-3 actors of this generation if not the best. He was beyond superb, capturing Lincoln's homespun humor (yes, you laugh out loud a number of times at stories 100 years old) but also his righteous anger and frustration. His confrontation with Mary over Robert's enlistment ( and she thinks likely death) is revealing and moving. What made me skeptical was the time frame of 1865. I thought Spelberg was missing the best parts of Lincoln's political career. In fact, Tony Kushner's screenplay was exceptional, weaving in the Gettysburg Address (1863) as well as the 2nd Inaugural of 1864. The opening scene, in which a handful of soldiers quote BACK to Lincoln the Address was brilliant. Surprisingly, the weakest element was the John Williams' uninspiring musical score.

Most of all, the process---and it was a difficult process---whereby the 13th Amendment was passed, reveals the incredible compromises on all sides required to get it done. The "purest man who ever walked the earth" (as Thad Stevens calls Lincoln) in the end had to resort to bribery of Dem congressmen (not surprising) and of deception of fellow Republicans.

"Flight" with Denzel Washington is only slightly less impressive. When a functional drunken airline pilot saves his plane and the lives of 140 people through astounding flying, he's a hero. But slowly clues emerge pointing to his intoxication and his friends help him with a cover up. Eventually, his innocence means someone else will take the fall for his crime. What does this drunk do? While there is no literal " come to Jesus" moment, the Christian overtones are strong, despite Hollywood's expected language and nudity. You will never want to hear a pilot say " we have some chop" after watching "Flight"!

"Taken 2" was disappointing, perhaps because the first was so good. A CIA agent takes his family to Turkey, where he is the victim of a revenge kidnapping from his actions in the first movie. This time, the 20-ish daughter is the one doing the searching from directions given by the captured Liam Neeson via a hidden cell phone. The weakness is the premise, wherein Neeson---who made a great hunter---now has to play the role of the prey.

"The Master" with Philip Seymour Hoffman and River Phoenix is a mixed bag. Clearly meant as a metaphor for L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, the film never knows whether to ridicule the subject or treat it as a threat. The music and direction reflect this schizophrenia. Fantastic acting by Hoffman (and, I guess by Phoenix because you despise him so much) still don't save this from it's own inconsistencies.

48 posted on 01/07/2013 5:27:06 AM PST by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
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To: Argus

Domestic BO is still 1/3 of the revenue, and a bunch of the other 2/3s is domestic cable and DVD sales. And nobody knows if he’s still a draw anywhere, this is his first actually starring role since Collateral Damage in 2002, and that lost money. 10 years is a long time to be doing nothing but cameo and ensembles.


49 posted on 01/07/2013 7:11:31 AM PST by discostu (I recommend a fifth of Jack and a bottle of Prozac)
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To: SunkenCiv
he will head up the Schwarzenegger Institute for Public Policy at University of Southern California,

Yes, in return for a substantive donation, you too can be a figurehead for a claque of fascist control freaks.

50 posted on 01/07/2013 10:08:57 AM PST by Carry_Okie (GunWalker: Arming "a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as well funded")
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To: DemforBush
Eh, I’ll pass. I’ll watch an Arnie movie if it comes on tv (i.e. watch it for free), but I will never spend another dime for anything he’s involved in, movie or otherwise. I simply cannot support him after his commutation for Esteban Nuñez (convicted murderer and son of Arnie’s closest Democratic political ally). The “governator” didn’t even have the guts to let the victim’s family know ahead of time. Scumbag. I will never forgive him for that as well.
51 posted on 01/07/2013 12:15:56 PM PST by ColdOne (I miss my poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11)
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To: Carry_Okie

;’) Still, Arnold heading a think tank, something funny about that right away. :’)


52 posted on 01/07/2013 4:56:24 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Still, Arnold heading a think tank, something funny about that right away.

Considering that Ahnold is of immoderately moderate intelligence, but also possesses ridiculous amounts of money, t'would be a source of constant amusement to him to have such fawning "luminaries" hanging upon his every word in all seriousness. After all, from Conan to Canute isn't really suc a big stretch.

Arnold's play in America does represent something of a medieval tragicomedy. He started out debasing himself for sicko faggot artiste Robert Mapplethorpe, but it did get his name "in pictures" in the right circles (so to speak). I can't imagine what he did to get his shot with the Hollywood tycoons. By all reports, although he was respected professionally among his bodybuilding peers, personally he was little more than endured as something of an a-hole. Once he'd made the big time, needless to say, there was motive for revenge against the powerful. Rubbing shoulders by marrying a Kennedy wasn't enough. So obtaining their deference by the power to grant political favors became the goal. THAT is why I think he wanted to be governor. We all know how that turned out when everybody had him for a patsy. So when he gets caught exercising the insatiable urge to boink a fat Mexican scullery maid, with his storybook life irreparably tarnished, being of modest intellect, obviously defective courage, and arguable integrity, no amount of money could buy him true respect. So now he'll settle for obsequious deference from the most craven smart people one could find.

What a pathetic life. I doubt it will end well.

53 posted on 01/07/2013 5:44:00 PM PST by Carry_Okie (GunWalker: Arming "a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as well funded")
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To: Charles Henrickson

Very funny.


54 posted on 01/07/2013 6:12:18 PM PST by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
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To: LS

River Phoenix?


55 posted on 01/07/2013 6:40:16 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: Caipirabob

I really like the original “Total Recall”, even though the three-page PK Dick story on which it was kinda-sorta based does a flamethrower job on the screenplay’s ass. :’) I didn’t see the remake. The reboot of “Star Trek” was fantastic looking in iMax, but otherwise basically pretty much sucked.

“Live Long and Suck it, Zachary Quinto!” — Dr. Sheldon Cooper


56 posted on 01/07/2013 7:07:50 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: Charles Henrickson

LOLOLOLOL... you always kill me!


57 posted on 01/07/2013 7:11:27 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: Tanniker Smith

I’ve enjoyed some of his movies, and while I don’t go to the theater more than once every 18 months or so, I see the recent stuff when it arrives on disk, generally at the warehouse clubs. I’d never heard of “The Expendables” but was tempted to get it because of the sheer size of the cast, and its sequels have to be better than the sequels of the remake of “Ocean’s 11”. ;’)


58 posted on 01/07/2013 7:15:47 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: twister881

:’D “It’s not a tumor!” He should be cast in whatever script they eventually work out for “Ghostbusters III”, since he’s really much more consistently entertaining in comedies, probably due to his accent.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2975581/posts?page=36#36


59 posted on 01/07/2013 7:18:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: fattigermaster

I really, really disliked his “Conan” movies; I would have liked to see the books made into a movie franchise and at least an attempt made to incorporate the *actual* Hyborian Age essay details as a backstory and maybe the basis of an introductory narrated framework, and of course the short stories as vignettes (Conan’s encounter with the abominable snowmen, the big slug at Larsa, his fight with the prehuman ape-man, etc) to keep the action going in some overall Conan-based main story. Ah well.

“Conan Kills the Girly-Men”


60 posted on 01/07/2013 7:24:16 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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