When you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger, you’re probably more inclined to think of the biggest and best action movies of the past few decades. Or perhaps even a couple of science fiction movies, too. But the actor also starred in some pretty excellent comedy movies in his time.
From Kindergarten Cop to Jingle All the Way, Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s done his fair share of comedic gigs. But this ‘80s movie, which will sound too crazy to comprehend for those who haven’t heard of it, proved that his box office appeal exceeds that of his action hero antics.
In fact, the movie in question ended up setting a box office record for The Terminator in the most surprising way.
Twins, which starred Schwarzenegger as Julius Benedict, was released in 1988. Considering just a year earlier he’d worked on both Predator and The Running Man, Twins was definitely a one-eighty.
The movie follows Julius as he tracks down and reunites with his long-lost twin brother, who serves as the physical opposite to him in the form of Danny DeVito.
Commercially, the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie was a big success, and became the number one film in the US in its opening weekend, and would remain so for the next two weeks.
But for Schwarzenegger, Twins marked a personal record break in his career at that point, being the first movie in his filmography to break over $100 million at the box office.
And shockingly, he didn’t even take a salary, since he wanted to prove that he could tackle comedy just as much as action, and execs were unwilling to risk their funding for something that might bomb. Instead, he, DeVito, and director Ivan Reitman opted for a percentage of box office profits instead. …Good call!
“Of course, it was the best investment we’ve ever made. Every one of us says that. It became such a historic deal, that the studio never ever would make that deal again,” Schwarzenegger revealed [via In Depth with Graham Bensinger]. “We got the bigger chunk…and that does not float well with the studios.”
Although critical reviews were mixed, audiences seemed to get a kick out of the Schwarzenegger-DeVito pairing. So much so, that a sequel ended up being developed in 2012, though this idea was dumped. (For the record, the idea for the sequel was to bring Eddie Murphy into the fray as an additional triplet brother. …Yes, really.)
We love Arnie at The Digital Fix, so we’ve got plenty for you to check out. Take a look at everything we know about the FUBAR season 2 release date, why Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks he should be president, and how to watch all the Predator movies in order. Or, check out our list of the new movies out this year, as well as our list of the best movies of all time.