The Governator didn’t waste any time jumping back into the Hollywood rat race. Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s term as governor of California officially came to an end just over four months ago. But he’s already got an animated TV series and a top-dollar return to the silver screen in the works, plus a possible return to his most famous movie role. When he said, “I’ll be back” he really meant it.
Deadline.com notes A-list talent firm Creative Artists Agency is currently negotiating a deal that would dump $12.5 million clams plus 25-percent of first-dollar gross into Schwarzenegger’s bank account for a bigscreen adaptation of the Richard Nash novel “Cry Macho.” Taking the reins as director will likely be Brad Furman, who has a modest hit in theatres now with “The Lincoln Lawyer.”
The plot is said to revolve around a Kentucky Derby-winning horse breeder whose wife and child are killed. “He sinks into an alcoholic depression and winds up working for a hedge fund jerk who offers him a choice of getting fired or bringing back the rich guy’s son living with the ex-wife in Mexico. Unexpected plot twists ensue,” reads the Deadline summary.
Schwarzenegger, who is 63, has also lent his name and considerable economic weight to a revival—yes, another one—of the troubled “Terminator” franchise. Although the last film in the franchise—2009’s “Terminator: Salvation” starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington—made some decent bank, the rights holders were forced into bankruptcy (long story). And so a back-to-basics revamp is on the boards with Justin Lin‘s name being kicked around as director. Lin, of course, is a hot property in Hollywood right now thanks to the success of “Fast Five.”
Lin and Schwarzenegger have been talking strictly one-on-one, and in a recent chat with MTV the director expressed: “I always feel like what’s great about the ‘Terminator’ franchise is that there’s time-travel and there are different timelines to play with,” Lin explains, “There are also a lot of gaps from what we love about all of the ‘Terminator’ movies, so there’s a lot of things we can do and play with… [‘Terminator’] does have that capability, finding fresh ways of going back without destroying other [movies], because you can tell your own stories.”
In other showbiz news, the ex-governor is also shopping a proposed animated series titled, appropriately, “The Governator.” His partner is comics legend Stan Lee.
Other projects under consideration: His own cooking show and a reality-TV project costarring one of the Kardashian sisters (kidding. Maybe. Stay tuned). Trivia: Back in his heyday, Schwarzenegger received a private jet as an enticement to sign on the dotted line for a film project. CLICK HERE for the Deadline.com story.
QUESTION: will you see another “Terminator” movie with Arnold back in the main role?
Answer on our Facebook page. Five randomly chosen answers will receive an Arnold Schwarzenegger memorabilia (DVD, keychain, Governator T-shirt, etc.), chosen by our staff.
Must be 18 and over to partcipate.
Deadline to enter: 10:00 PM (PT), May 27, 2011
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