How Arnold Schwarzenegger Ended Up Making $15 Million For Only 700 Words Of Dialogue In This Movie

Posted by Jenniffer Sheldon on Monday, June 3, 2024

From having his favorite film of all-time banned for traumatizing youngsters, to being passed over for roles due to his strong accent, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearing career has not been without its hurdles. However, amidst the disappointments and ignored alternatives, the actor has also observed an abundance of serendipitous fortune.

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One time the former Mr. Universe truly struck gold was when he agreed to reprise his role as the indomitable cyborg assassin, T-800, in the preferred science fiction franchise, The Terminator. In one of essentially the most spectacular financial feats of his career, only rivaled via his ridiculous $25 million salary in the 1997 flop, Batman and Robin, Schwarzenegger found himself taking house a staggering $15 million for the function, despite having an insignificant 700 words of dialogue. Here’s how the motion celebrity managed to protected such a massive paycheck for such restricted dialogue.

How Arnold Schwarzenegger Landed The Starring Role In The Terminator Franchise

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been portraying T-800 in The Terminator franchise for decades, having first secured the function in 1983, only a year after his leap forward in the sword and sorcery epic, Conan the Barbarian. Despite his apparent prowess at embodying the eponymous personality, Schwarzenegger all but stumbled into the function.

The now 75-year-old actor was once initially angling for the role of human resistance fighter, Kyle Reese. However, after going throughout the script, Schwarzenegger straight away “got fixated on the Terminator," and embarked on an intense character study. So intense was the acclaimed action star’s analysis of the character that director James Cameron ended up offering him the role instead.

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He's a machine. So everything has to be matter-of-fact,” Schwarzenegger recalled telling the director during an October 2019 interview with Men’s Health. “I said there should be no joy, no gratification, no kind of victory lap of any sort. Just the mission, complete. I go through these points. [James Cameron], afterward, says to me, 'F**k, you analyze it better than the way I have written it. Why don't you play the Terminator?'"

How Arnold Schwarzenegger Landed A $15 Million Deal For 700 Words Of Dialogue In Terminator 2

What’s even more surprising is that Schwarzenegger to start with declined the section, owing to the Terminator's limited dialogue (27 traces). However, after somewhat of persuading, the action celebrity agreed to take the phase. For his debut transformation into the Terminator, Schwarzenegger needed to make some concession in phrases of pay, taking home a measly $75,000 for his performance.

Things would take a relatively surprising turn in the sequel, possibly owing to the luck of the primary movie, which multiplied it’s $6.4 million funds tenfold at the box workplace, and received in style crucial acclaim. For his 2d transformation into T-800, Schwarzenegger took home a staggering $15 million, in spite of only having 700 words of dialogue. To contextualize, the enduring line “Hasta la vista, baby,” earned the now 75-year-old action star an astonishing $85,716.

Luckily, the $15 million paycheck turned out to be cash neatly spent, because the movie was a good larger success than its predecessor, accruing a staggering $519 million on the field administrative center, and happening to become the easiest grossing movie of 1991.

During his 2019 interview with Men’s Health, Schwarzenegger shared his idea on why the movie garnered this sort of captive target market. "People really admired the character, because he was able to do things they all wanted to do," he said. "Everyone wants to wipe out a police station when they get mad at the police. We had a test screening. We showed it to 50 cops. They all applauded when I wiped out the police station—because it was not a human being doing it, it was the machine doing it."

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The film also carried out reasonably neatly at the critical entrance, with critics practically fawning over Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of the villainous cyborg, T-800. “Schwarzenegger’s genius as a movie star is to seek out roles that construct on, rather than undermine, his bodily and vocal characteristics,” wrote esteemed movie critic Roger Ebert. “Here he turns into the directly man in a human drama - and in a human comedy, too, as the kid tells him to lighten up and prevent talking like a pc. “

How Much Was Arnold Schwarzenegger Paid For The Terminator Franchise?

Arnold Schwarzenegger endured to reprise his position in subsequent Terminator iterations, except for quantity four, Terminator Salvation, whose production coincided with his 2nd term as California governor. Apart from solidifying his status as an motion legend, the adrenaline-packed franchise additionally went far in jacking up Schwarzenegger’s web worth to its present $450 million.

For the 3rd iteration in the franchise, the now 75-year-old took home an impressive $30 million wage, along with an extra $5 million from the movie’s field office proceeds. Though his salaries for the latest iterations are not recognized, it could actually safely be assumed that he pocketed a lot more than the preliminary $75,000.

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Though it turned out to be slightly the gold mine, Schwarzenegger isn't intent on collaborating in future iterations of The Terminator. “The franchise is not done. I’m done,” he advised The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. “I got the message loud and clear that the world wants to move on with a distinct theme in the case of The Terminator. Someone has to return up with a super idea. The Terminator was once largely responsible for my good fortune, so I all the time would take a look at it very fondly. The first three movies were nice. Number four [Salvation] I was now not in because I was governor. Then 5 [Genisys] and six [Dark Fate] didn’t shut the deal so far as I’m involved. We knew that forward of time as a result of they had been just no longer smartly written.”

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