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 But after an eight-year stint as California's governor, has
Schwarzenegger, 67, still got the muscle to pull in the crowds
in the role that cemented his international movie star status?
"Terminator: Genisys," in movie theaters on Wednesday, sees the
action star return to the franchise that has grossed $1.5
billion globally from four films, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
"It was really a big surprise for me when I got a phone call a
month after I was finished with the governorship, 'Hey Arnold,
do you want to still be the Terminator?'" Schwarzenegger told
Reuters.
After his 2003-2011 stint as California governor, Schwarzenegger
has struggled to make a major box office impact especially with
younger audiences who may have been babies when he was in his
heyday.
"Terminator Genisys," made by Paramount Pictures for an
estimated $155 million, is expected to open over the U.S.
Independence Day weekend with upwards of $50 million over five
days in North American theaters, according to box office
trackers Rentrak.
That compares to the record-setting $208 million domestic
opening for Universal Pictures' "Jurassic World" over three days
in June, and a $91 million weekend opening last month for
Pixar's animated "Inside Out."
In the past four years, Schwarzenegger's biggest role was
alongside Hollywood's aging heroes in Sylvester Stallone's
"Expendables" trilogy. Those films have grossed about $790
million globally, drawing bigger crowds internationally than in
North America. His other movies were mostly small, independent
fare.
The first "Terminator" in 1984, which launched the catchphrase
"I'll be back", featured the strapping Austrian-born body
builder turned actor as an invincible killer robot. He reprised
the role for two sequels.
"He is essentially having to start from scratch to build that
credibility and appeal with a younger audience, and that is
incredibly challenging for him to do at this age," said
celebrity branding expert Jeetendr Sehdev.
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Schwarzenegger is aware that his return to "Terminator" will be a
test of his mass audience appeal.
"When you are in politics, you have to do the things that people
want you to do. When you're in movies, you also want to do different
types of movies that people want you to do, because otherwise they
don't show up," he said.
While Schwarzenegger is featured heavily in the marketing campaign
for "Genisys," he is more of a supporting star to two younger leads
- "Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke (Sarah Connor), and
"Divergent" star Jai Courtney (Kyle Reese).
Rentrak analyst Paul Dergarabedian says Schwarzenegger's presence
remains significant for the franchise.
"Arnold is woven into the DNA of the 'Terminator' brand ... this is
a big hook that he's back. He's funny, self-deprecating. This is the
way people see Arnie, they make fun of him aging," he said.
Reviews for "Genisys" have been poor, scoring only 26 percent on
aggregator site RottenTomatoes.com. Todd McCarthy at The Hollywood
Reporter said the film "lumbers along, often tediously," while Chris
Nashawaty at Entertainment Weekly called "Genisys" a "wildly
expensive, decent-looking, mildly diverting mess that doesn't make a
lick of sense."
Paramount Pictures is owned by Viacom Inc., Disney/Pixar is a unit
of Walt Disney Co., and Universal Pictures is a unit of Comcast
Corp.
(The story was refiled to correct the spelling of the character's
name in paragraph 13 to Connor from Conner)
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Christian
Plumb)
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