Schwarzenegger Giving Comeback Another Shot, Will Star In Western The Last Stand

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2
(Image credit: Tri-Star Pictures)

UPDATE: Lionsgate has confirmed this news in a press release.

It's been a long, strange year for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Leaving his seat as the governor of California, he announced that he would be returning to the big screen and signed on to multiple projects, including another Terminator movie and the horse trainer-drama Cry Macho. Then everything got turned upside down as it was revealed that he had impregnated one of his employees fourteen years ago and his wife, Maria Shriver, filed for divorce. In the wake of the scandal, Schwarzenegger put everything on hold, but now, two months later, he's once again trying to get his movie career going again. But if you're hoping he's going to start with the Terminator, I have bad news.

As first reported back in April, it's now being reported that Schwarzenegger has signed a deal with Lionsgate to star in the western The Last Stand. According to Deadline, the project is aiming for a September start date with South Korean-director Kim-ji-Woon at the helm. The film, which will mark the director's English language debut, is about a cartel leader who breaks out of a courthouse and tries to make his way towards the Mexican border. The only thing standing in his way is an old, broken down sheriff and an inexperienced group of cops. Woon previously directed The Good, the Bad, the Weird as well as last year's I Saw The Devil. Liam Neeson was originally attached to the film, but scheduling issues prevented the film from getting made.

The article makes a big deal about whether or not people will come out to see a Schwarzenegger movie after what he did, but I can't imagine it will be that big a deal. While what he did was certainly wrong (I don't think anyone is denying that), I doubt Schwarzenegger's core fanbase is going to care too much and simply wants to see the giant Austrian back in the movies. What do you think?

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.