All Hail the King of Action!
Sci-Fi Action Films And Schwarzenegger!
Reported By: ABking
Saturday, February 18, 2006

When it comes to people that shaped and influenced some of the most famous sci-fi action films ever made, the names Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind & Raiders Of The Lost Ark), George Lucas (Star Wars: A New Hope & Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back) and James Cameron (The Terminator & Aliens) come to mind. But if there was a movie star icon the helped shape that genre, it would of course be Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator & Predator). But wait a minute, Arnie is a producer not a director, so that puts him in a class all by himself being the only mega-star that help push the sci-fi genre.

Lets talk about Arnie's past and future in sci-fi action films. It all started with a little known film called THE TERMINATOR in 1984. This film was created by ambitious pioneer James Cameron. Arnold was not the first choice to play The Terminator, but the Austrian Oak insisted on playing that part. The rest as they say is box-office history.

With a budget of only 6.4 million, THE TERMINATOR came out and was and instant ground breaking classic grossing 38 million domestic, 40 million foreign and a worldwide take of 78 million. It was hailed as "the greatest non-Spielberg film" ever made. To this day, numerous films developed and made are heavily influenced by it. Arnold became an over-night sensation playing the unstoppable cyborg which led to numerous sci-fi action film scripts hitting his desk at Oak Productions.

Next up was the enormously popular PREDATOR directed by John McTiernan. The film came out in 1987 to much anticipation and knocked the ball right out of the park. Arnold had topped himself in every possible way. PREDATOR was nominated for Best Special Effects by the Academy Awards and ruled at the box-office for many weeks.

PREDATOR cost 15 million to make, but almost made that back in the opening weekend alone with 12 million. The sci-fi action fest grossed 59 million domestic, 38 million foreign and a powerful worldwide take of 98 million. Arnold was definitely now a movie star god in the sci-fi world!

THE RUNNING MAN followed that same year in November 1987. The film was based on a novel by Stephen King (though King used an alias for the film) which had many filmmakers wanting to direct it. Arnold had become the "new" hottest guy in town. With a cost of 27 million, THE RUNNING MAN was a step up for Arnold with a bigger budget. But the film didn't catch the world on fire the way THE TERMINATOR or PREDATOR did. The film ended up grossing 38 million domestic and over 50 million worldwide. Arnie had delivered another sci-fi hit under his belt.

After the success of THE RUNNING MAN, Arnold didn't make sci-fi for a few years instead starring in a string of comedies and modern day action thrillers. Schwarzenegger's next film in the genre would become his most ambitious and most successful film to date. That film was TOTAL RECALL!

TOTAL RECALL was a dream project of Arnie's for over a decade prior. Arnold got his good producer pals Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna to buy the rights just so he would finally star. Arnie basically owned the entire film. He stair heading the production, the marketing and the advertising to name just a few. Schwarzenegger even executive produced the film un-credited, but got a hefty 10 million upfront fee and 10% of the box-office grosses. Hotshot filmmaker Paul Verhoeven jumped on to direct because Arnie wanted to work with him.

TOTAL RECALL was the most ambitious science fiction film of all time to that date. It incorporated the best special effects techniques (at the time) and had more effects shots than even STAR WARS. The film was one of the two most expensive films at that time, but quickly made the money back once it opened June 1990. TOTAL RECALL pulled in 25 million in three days and climbed all the way to a final gross of 119 million domestic. The mega hit action film took in 141 million foreign for a monster 261 million worldwide.

Arnold was on top of the world! Time magazine put Arnold on the cover and called him "the biggest star in the world." Not only did TOTAL RECALL become the Oaks biggest film to that date, it won the best special effects Oscar and was one of the few R rated films that opened to that much money and grossed a massive amount internationally. Arnold was definitely one of the only guys who could open a picture and deliver overseas. Arnold's box-office muscle thrived with R rated action films!

Just when Arnold thought he couldn't top himself, along comes the crown jewel in his career. Arnold was the biggest star and he also had the biggest hit of his career, so how does he get any bigger? He finally makes a sequel to THE TERMINATOR. Fans had always wanted Arnold to make a sequel to his most famous character so Arnold took the next step and got good filmmaker friend James Cameron to finally agree to return and make it.

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY's budget and production topped TOTAL RECALL's. T2 started to become the most ambitious, most expensive, most elaborate film ever made. The budget came close to costing 100 million because of the costly effects, incredible stunts and over-the-top action scenes. Arnold's salary didn't hurt either (he got a record 15 million in lue of a private jet) plus an undisclosed percent of the films box-office gross.

When the film was finally finished and released in the summer on 1991, the final price tag was 94 million. But with Cameron and Arnold spairing no expense on the production, the film set the entire world on fire becoming the talk of Hollywood. T2 opened on a Wednesday to a record 54 million in five days and 31 million in three days. By its second week it already caught up to it's 94 million budget and was well on it's way to breaking numerous box-office records around the world.

T2 was the second biggest R rated film of all time to that date; it was the biggest R rated opening ever; it was Arnold's biggest opening...AND it became Arnold's BIGGEST box-office hit. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY grossed 204 million domestically, a massive 315 million foreignly and a gargantuan 519 million worldwide. T2 had become one of the top 10 biggest films of all time at this time period!

During the 90's, Arnold made numerous films outside of sci-fi including comedies, modern day action films, comic books films and supernatural thrillers. It seemed as if the Oak didn't make a sci-fi action film for quite some time and he didn't. Then in November of 2000 Arnie made the lackluster TOTAL RECALL light rip off THE 6TH DAY. The film was crap and his fans knew it. Even with a heafty budget of 82 million, the production values sucked and the film flopped. It opened with 13 million in three days, grossed 34 million domestic, 61 million foreignly and a final disappointing take of 96 million worldwide.

THE 6TH DAY didn't live up to Arnold's past "E ticket thrill rides". It was even PG-13 for heavens sake! If action fans and Arnold fans were expecting a ride on the level of TOTAL RECALL, they were surely disappointed! Years passed and Arnold wanted to go out on a high before he entered politics to become California's next governor. So what does he do???

Finally after years of waiting for James Cameron to direct, Arnold decided to make TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES without Cameron. And what a great business move it was. Arnold not only scored a blockbuster smash -the second biggest movie of his career after T2- he also set records to become the highest paid movie star for a unheard of 30 million upfront fee plus a piece of the merchandise and box-office. When all was said and done, Arnie walked away from T3 with over 35 million. The Oak also came back to the sci-fi genre with a BANG! T3 might have cost 175 million to make, but the film opened with 72 million in five days and 44 million in three days. TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES went on to gross 150 million domestic, a powerful 283 million foriegn and a mega 433 million worldwide.

Now what? Is Schwarzenegger going to wisely make a comeback to event sci-fi action films? What sci-fi roller coaster ride can Arnold make next for his legions of fans? Could it be TERMINATOR 4? That would be very smart! Could it be the remake of Yul Bryners classic WESTWORLD? Or could it be a re-teaming with Arnie's best friend director James Cameron with BATTLE ANGEL ALITA or PROJECT 880/AVATAR?

There are many possibilities for Arnold to return in a BIG way. Fans can only hope and pray Schwarzenegger comes back soon to a BIG, ACTION PACKED, QUALITY, SCI-FI EVENT ROLLER COASTER THRILL RIDE!

Special thanks to www.boxofficemojo.com for the results!