“I didn’t want to see anyone for a week”: Arnold Schwarzenegger was Heartbroken After Failure of $137M Action Comedy, Calls it an Underrated Gem

Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a remarkable acting journey during his entire career. One of his most renowned roles in the Terminator franchise still makes fans’ hearts flutter, but this megastardom initially kickstarted with weightlifting. Given that he has delivered several blockbusters, it would have been difficult for him to face major box-office failure.

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At the height of his Terminator fame, he hit a devastating box-office failure when his 1993 film, Last Action Hero couldn’t impress the audience at the time.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger has been at the height of his acting career since his 1991 film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a terrific hit grossing $520 million worldwide. It was the highest-grossing film of 1991 worldwide, which meant that everyone had high expectations for his projects going forward.

And why not, after all, the actor was making hits on hits who already had an impressive sports background at that time. But everything went wrong when Last Action Hero hit the theatres two years later. Columbia Pictures had high regard for it but it went futile with the film becoming both a critical and commercial disappointment.

In his three-part Netflix documentary, Arnold, the action legend addressed his failure to share,

“When Last Action Hero came out, I had reached my peak after Terminator 2. Having the most successful movie of the year worldwide.”

He continued,

“I cannot tell you how upset I was. It hurts you, It hurts your feelings… It was 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 was a great message.”

While he was upset by his failure, the film’s negative reviews added more worries for him.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Was Shaken on Film’s Disappointing Performance

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As per Terminator director, James Cameron, Schwarzenegger couldn’t handle the disastrous performance. Making an appearance in his documentary, he shared,

“He sounded like he was in bed crying,” he continued. “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.’ That’s the only time I’ve ever heard him down.”

Stating to The Hollywood Reporter, he mentioned that the film’s performance got affected due to politics.

“[Last Action Hero] was slaughtered before anybody saw it,” he said. “It was literally a political attack because I was campaigning for [former President George H.W. Bush], but Bill Clinton won.”

He continued to share that he knew that the film “was great — it wasn’t fantastic, but it was underrated.” Over the years, the film gained a cult following with many commenting that this film has become his underrated project despite its great potential.

Arnold is available on Netflix.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Arnold