“It’s done and I’m not in it”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Retires From Major Action Movie Franchise
Any film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger screams action, as the star has that impressive aura of an action hero. The actor has had many hit movies throughout his career. One of which is the Expendables. To everyone’s surprise, Schwarzenegger has recently announced that he is finally leaving that franchise and will not appear in ‘The Expendables 4’.
Schwarzenegger shed light on his decision to work for the franchise. After leaving the action franchise, the former governor is delighting his fans with his latest debut show, Fubar.
Arnold Schwarzenegger shares why he left the Expendables franchise
Being a part of a blockbuster film series is indeed a dream for many actors. Arnold Schwarzenegger, on the other hand, voluntarily opted to exit the franchise. The reason for leaving the franchise is said to be discontent with the character played by Schwarzenegger. The Terminator actor felt that his character isn’t developed properly. He said,
“You know, I think the first and second ones were terrific. But, the third one, I thought my part was not written well. It was also not playing well in the movie, as far as I was concerned. Maybe other people believed differently. But I didn’t believe that I had any value in the movie. I love the franchise, by the way. I think it’s a spectacular franchise, The Expendables. I think that Sly has good ideas, what he wants to do with it, and I think if they write a really good script [in] which my part is very well developed, I would do it. If not, then I won’t do it.”
The previous three parts of the movie were written and directed by Sylvester Stallone who also has parted ways with the franchise. One of the reasons Schwarzenegger withdrew from the fourth installment of the action franchise was Stallone’s absence from the movie. According to him, the whole franchise is of no worth without the presence of Stallone. During a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, he said,
“There is no Expendables without Sly. I would never do the movie without him, no.”
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The 75-year-old actor certainly has no plans to return to the franchise. During an interview, he declared that he wouldn’t work on the Expendables movie again. When he shared this with Stallone, he also got his point. The Commando actor shared,
“It’s done and I’m not in it. I said, ‘You know what, we have done this and I’m out of it.’ And Stallone really understood.”
Since Stallone has also departed from the franchise, Schwarzenegger has no reason to stay here. According to a source, Stallone left the franchise because of differences of opinion with Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner regarding the new director, script, and certain qualitative elements of the film.
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How did Arnold Schwarzenegger end up with The Expendables?
Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed that he worked on the Expendables franchise as a favor for Sylvester Stallone. Schwarzenegger said,
“I did [the first Expendables] as a favor to Sly. I shot it on a Saturday for two hours quickly in a church with Bruce Willis. Sly said, ‘Oh, can you do Expendables 2?’ and I did that for a weekend. Then it was expanded for Expendables 3. And that was it. We’re going to do something together one day.”
Though working in the action franchise was initiated with the intention of doing a favor, the series of events made Schwarzenegger an alum of the franchise.
In August 2021, it was declared that the fourth installment of the Expendables was in progress. However, by the time Schwarzenegger made up his mind to not continue with the franchise. The action star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is currently starring in the Netflix series Fubar.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
