Has Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s betrayal of his wife Maria Shriver, by fathering a child with the housekeeper, killed the superstar’s Hollywood career? We’ll see for sure soon enough but we bet that it hasn’t. After all, America re-elected Bill Clinton as its President after Monica Lewinsky!
The Lionsgate studio in May had been on the verge of announcing that Arnold Schwarzenegger was starring in its long-in-development Western titled ‘Last Stand,’ set up as the English-language debut of director Kim-ji-Woon.
Then Arnold pulled out just before his personal scandal went public and destroyed his marriage to Maria Shriver. But now that the noise is settling down the actor is back in the project and aiming to test his post-divorce popularity.
Not surprisingly Arnold’s deal with Lionsgate is not nearly as rich as the one CAA made for him in QED International’s ‘Cry Macho,’ which was a $12.5M salary plus a 25% first dollar gross back end. Bill Block brought that project to Cannes in the middle of Schwarzenegger’s scandal and now it looks to be dead or at best delayed until 2012.
Production of ‘Last Stand’ would start in September of this year. “It’s a property which a zillion directors fell in love with: the good, the bad, the weird,” a Lionsgate representative said.
“It’s an old-fashioned Western specifically designed for a 63-year-old broken-down guy with a moral decision whether Arnold decides to stand up for his town. We always needed an iconic figure for it.”
When asked if Arnold is still a star despite the scandal, a Lionsgate executive said, “I can tell you from ‘The Expendables’ it was electrifying when Arnold came on. He is still a big piece of news.”
We can’t say for certain how successful the ‘Last Stand’ will be at the box office but we bet given the standards of behavior that we seem to accept from today’s celebrities Arnold’s infidelity will not not ruin its potential success.
Image credit to WENN