Washington DC [US], June 25: Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger surprised fans by revealing that his 1988 comedy film ‘Twins’ — not his iconic action franchise ‘Terminator’ — was the most profitable film of his career. The revelation came during his appearance on Watch What Happens Live, as reported by Variety.
Starring alongside Danny DeVito, Schwarzenegger played one half of an unlikely set of fraternal twins. While the film was a significant shift from his usual action-hero persona, it turned out to be a career-defining financial success.
“We got no money for the salary, but ownership with a piece of the back end. It was fantastic. We went all the way to the bank with that,” said Schwarzenegger.
When asked if his earnings from the film exceeded $40 million, Schwarzenegger confirmed, “It was more than that. It was more than any movie I ever made.”
At a time when studios were skeptical about casting him in comedies, Schwarzenegger pitched a bold idea: the cast would forgo upfront salaries in exchange for a percentage of the film’s backend. The movie was made for $16.5 million and went on to gross $216 million worldwide, also performing well on home video.
“That was the dialogue until Ivan Reitman and Danny DeVito came along,” Schwarzenegger said, referring to the pushback he received about doing comedy.
A planned sequel, titled ‘Triplets’, was in the works with Eddie Murphy set to join the cast. However, director Ivan Reitman’s passing delayed and eventually shelved the project.
Currently, Schwarzenegger stars in Season 2 of his Netflix action-comedy series ‘Fubar’, which premiered on June 12. He is also working on a holiday movie, ‘The Man with the Bag’, where he’ll portray Santa Claus.