Even with his box office power at the time, Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t save every project he starred in during the 80s and 90s. One example comes in the form of John McTiernan’s Last Action Hero, released in 1993.
While Last Action Hero is a cult classic, it opened to $15.3 million and only made $137 million during its global theatrical run. In the new Netflix docuseries Arnold, we get insight into his career, and Schwarzenegger looks back at one of his biggest box office failures.
“I cannot tell you how upset I was,” Schwarzenegger says in his documentary series. “It hurts you. It hurts your feelings. It’s embarrassing… I didn’t want to see anyone for a week. But you keep plodding along. And my mother-in-law always said this: ‘Let’s just move forward.’ It’s a great message.”
For comparison, just two years earlier, Schwarzenegger starred in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which earned $31.8 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, finishing with a total of $520.9 million worldwide. “When Last Action Hero came out, I had reached my peak after Terminator 2, having the most successful movie of the year worldwide,” Schwarzenegger reveals.
Terminator 2 director James Cameron adds in the Arnold docuseries, “He sounded like he was in bed crying. He took it as a deep blow to his brand. I think it really shook him… I said, ‘What are you gonna do?’ He said, ‘I’m just gonna hang out by myself.'” Cameron notes, “That’s the only time I’ve ever heard him down.”
SEE ALSO: Ranking Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Post-Governator Starring Roles
Both Arnold and Schwarzenegger’s new scripted series FUBAR are currently streaming on Netflix.
