June 09, 2023
Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed he was hit hard emotionally after his 1993 action-comedy Last Action Hero bombed at the box office despite his previous hits.
"When Last Action Hero came out, I had reached my peak after Terminator 2, having the most successful movie of the year worldwide," Schwarzenegger recalled in the Netflix docuseries Arnold.
"So when the reviews for the film rolled out, "I cannot tell you how upset that I was," adding, "It hurts you. It hurts your feelings. It's embarrassing."
The movie fared badly, pocketing a mere $15.3 million at the domestic box office while $50 million globally.
Moreove, Schwarzenegger revealed James Cameron doubled down when he argued to change the iconic 'I'll be back' dialogue in The Terminator.
"Sometime in the middle of the shoot, we're doing this police station scene. The line is, 'I'll come back.' It wasn't meant to be like a big moment at all," the Avatar director said, who was attached as a co-writer with Gale Anne Hurd.
But The Expandables star sought to change the line to "I will be back" to sound more "machine-like".
However, the Oscar winner rebuffed the muscle man to follow the script.
"He says, 'Are you the writer?'" adding. "And I said, 'No,' and he said, 'Well, don't tell me how to *** write.'"