Arnie is returning to acting

[Eric W.]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110211/ap_ ... arzenegger

Good news. He should never have left for more reasons than one.

[AndyDursin]

I still think he and Stallone need to do a tag-team, full-out buddy action film that's a total throwback, and not just an EXPENDABLES ensemble picture.

Of course if they want to do comedy there's always that unproduced John Hughes script that was supposed to star Stallone and John Candy, which Carolco was going to go back in the olden days.

[Eric Paddon]

I think he was still acting most of the last seven years!

[Eric W.]

I think he was still acting most of the last seven years!

Nice one. And not very effectively I might add.


Anyways, I look at Bruce and Sly and how well they're still doing. I'm confident can get back into the game in fairly short order.


I'm a huge Arnold fan and I've missed him in a big way these past 7 years movie wise.

With my fan hat on, I feel needlessly cheated out of those 7 years.

I still think he and Stallone need to do a tag-team, full-out buddy action film that's a total throwback, and not just an EXPENDABLES ensemble picture.

Of course if they want to do comedy there's always that unproduced John Hughes script that was supposed to star Stallone and John Candy, which Carolco was going to go back in the olden days.

I'd love to see all of that. Now it can happen!

[Monterey Jack]

Ah-nuld was looking depressingly old and paunchy in The Expendables, so I can't see him returning to action roles as anything more than a disapointment.

[AndyDursin]

I dont know about that MJ. I mean we're at a time when they're actually trying to sell Adrien Brody (star of the worst Super Bowl commercial as well) as an action hero.

It all depends on the project. Arnold's not that old. If there's quality writing or some semblance of something there -- like RED -- for a veteran star to grasp onto, it could work.

[Monterey Jack]

The thing is, the grotesquely muscular he-men of 80s action cinema have given way to more "relatable" everyman heroes like Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, so I don't see if the Schwartz is going to have much box office pull these days aside from those old enough to actually experienced the 80s. Look at Indiana Jones 4. Without that cushion of nostalgia buoying the box office, the film would have done a lot worse at the box office. It's like when Mike Myers took half-a-decade off from making live-action movies, then came back to discover his audience had simply moved on from his particular brand of comedy.

[AndyDursin]

The thing is, the grotesquely muscular he-men of 80s action cinema have given way to more "relatable" everyman heroes like Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, so I don't see if the Schwartz is going to have much box office pull these days aside from those old enough to actually experienced the 80s.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, RED and EXPENDABLES were all hits. So it shows it can be done.

We're also at a point where it just depends on the project. There basically aren't any actors out there today whose name alone can draw in big audiences and make a film a success the way it used to be in the '80s and '90s.

Not even Matt Damon has proven himself to be a consistent genre draw -- look at GREEN ZONE, a massive flop, despite reteaming him with his "Bourne" sequels director. I'll also be surprised if this oft-delayed ADJUSTMENT BUREAU performs particularly well. Put him in the right movie, though, whether it's BOURNE or part of an ensemble like TRUE GRIT, and you've got something.

So if the movie has a marketable premise, and is effectively handled, it can work. But nothing is guaranteed for any star, new or old.

As far as Arnie goes, he took a hiatus right when things were fading for him. COLLATERAL DAMAGE didn't muster much of an audience, END OF DAYS did alright but underperformed, and even one of his better late-career vehicles, THE SIXTH DAY, couldn't do any better than generate mediocre dollars.

Yet I still think he's got enough international appeal there that they've got to give it at least one shot. Box-office attendance has been, overall, at a decline over the last year (see the attached article on January film attendance -- the lowest since 1995!), so a renaissance for aging action stars? Why not. Even Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster had a hit with TOUGH GUYS, and Stallone and Arnold aren't that elderly yet. lol.

Look at Indiana Jones 4. Without that cushion of nostalgia buoying the box office, the film would have done a lot worse at the box office

Over $730 million in worldwide revenue...I couldn't stand the movie and it let a lot of people down, yet financially it made a fortune.

You can make the argument it wasn't only nostalgia -- there simply isn't anything else out there that appeals to people. They'd rather give their dollars to a project like Indy IV even if it sucks over most of everything else Hollywood produces now.

Which is, from that perspective, even more reason why putting a vehicle for Arnold together -- minus the massive budget his films used to command -- makes sense. A studio could go in and get funding from international groups, minimizing their risk as well. I doubt he'll have much of a problem finding funding, but we'll see.

I'd love it if WITH WINGS AS EAGLES took flight...apparently the script by Braveheart's Randall Wallace is terrific...be a good time to see that happen. Yet we'll never get that CRUSADES which was going to have Arnie, Verhoeven and Jennifer Connelly right before she ruined herself.