Summary
Arnold Schwarzeneggerbecame a household name because of theTerminatorfranchise, but he made the most money of his career from another movie.
While Schwarzenegger starred in a few movies in the 1970s and 1980s, it wasthe 1984 sci-fi action movieThe Terminatorthat got people talking. Although he is known for appearing inthe corny 1996 holiday movieJingle All The Wayand the adaptation of Stephen King’sThe Running Man, which was released in 1987, people most associate the actor with theTerminatorfranchise. The sequel,Terminator 2: Judgement Daycame out in 1991, followed by several more films. The sixth,Terminator: Dark Fate, was released in 2019. James Cameron is making a seventh movie, andfans are curious about theTerminatorfranchise’s future. While these action-packed stories have no doubt been a huge part of Schwarzenegger’s career, he had the biggest payday from another film.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares He Made More Than $40 Million From His 1988 Movie Twins
In an interview on Bravo’s"Watch What Happens Livewith Andy Cohen" (viaVariety),Arnold Schwarzenegger shared that he earned over $40 million from the 1988 comedy"Twins.“He said:
“Well, number one was ‘Twins’ because 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.”
The actor answered a question about hisTwinsmoney: did he earn $20 million? He replied it was higher than that. When asked if he made $40 million, he said:
“It was more than that. It was more than any movie I ever made.”
This is fascinating to hear about, especially since fans would assume that Schwarzenegger made the most money from his career on aTerminatormovie. According toCelebrity Net Worth, he has a net worth of $750 million andearned $75,000 from the firstTerminatorfilm.As the publication explained, the director Ivan Reitman and two main stars Danny DeVito and Schwarzenegger made a deal: they would own 40% ofTwins, which meant 13.3% per person, but they wouldn’t earn a salary. WhenTwinsgrossed over $215 million, that meant they walked away with a huge payday.
Twinsis a hilarious storyabouttwin brothers Vincent (DeVito) and Julius Benedict (Schwarzenegger) who learn about each other later in life and get into all kinds of trouble. The joke of the movie is that they don’t look alike, but since they’re fraternal and not identical twins, it still works.
For several years, fans thought that aTwinssequel was in the works, and in 2021,DeVito said, “we’re working on it.“Then, in 2023, Schwarzenegger said in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporterthat the movie, which was calledTriplets, wasn’t going to be made. He said Jason Reitman “put a hold” on the movie after Ivan Reitman passed away. Schwarzenegger said, “His father wanted to do it really badly. I wanted to do it really badly. Danny DeVito wanted to do it really badly. We had the financing.”
In hisTHR2023 interview,Schwarzenegger said he was finished starring in theTerminatorfranchise, but noted that it would continue with another actor. While he’sstarred in several other sci-fi movies, he’s the face of the franchise, and so this marks a big change. Some of his most recent roles include Luke Brunner onFUBARand voicing King Aelstrom in one 2024 episode ofSecret Level. Fans can see the actor next asSanta Claus inThe Man with the Bagand The President inKung Fu Panda 2.
