The David Cronenberg movie technically financed by Arnold Schwarzenegger: “How much?”
David Cronenberg has worked with some of the very best actors of all time.
He’s a regular collaborator with the fantastic Viggo Mortensen, using his plethora of talents to craft masterpieces in a variety of genres. He’s turned Jeff Goldblum into a fly, subjected Keira Knightley to rigorous psychoanalysis, and trapped Robert Pattinson in a limousine, which is a better concept than it sounds. One star he’s never crossed paths with, however, is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The two very different figures both broke into the mainstream at around about the same time. They’re both known for making movies where people die in over-the-top, almost comical fashion, but, for whatever reason, they’ve never worked together on the same project. That’s not to say they haven’t indirectly affected each other. In fact, Arnie is actually partly responsible for one of Cronenberg’s most acclaimed films.
In 1988, the man with the quiff released Dead Ringers. Starring Jeremy Irons as a pair of gynaecologists, the movie traumatised audiences by the bucketful with its graphic depictions of medical procedures and a healthy helping of emotional abuse perpetrated by its sadistic main character. The story is actually based on a book by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, which in turn is based on a true story that shares a few similarities to the movie. It’s not called Dead Ringers, though. It’s called ‘Twins’. I think you can see where this is going.
Less than three months after Dead Ringers premiered, another, very different movie starting filling cinemas. This was Twins, a comedy about two very different men who discover that they are both the product of a genetic experiment. The comedy derives from the fact that one twin is played by Danny DeVito, while the other is played by our boy Arnie. It’s gone on to become something of a classic, with a classic name to boot, but things could have gone very differently.
In an interview with IndieWire, Cronenberg recalls meeting with Ivan Reitman, the man who would eventually direct the other film. Upon learning that the ‘Master of Body Horror’ was planning on using that name, he begged him not to. “I need the title more than you do,” Reitman explained. “Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, twins. That’s the sell.”
Once Cronenberg realised that his potential rival was desperate for the title, he replied with a very simple question: “How much?”
While he never revealed exactly how much he was paid, Cronenberg did let slip that the money went towards funding Dead Ringers. With the film’s budget sitting at just $13million, you can probably guess how much of that came from Reitman’s pocket. It barely scraped that back at the box office, but in terms of Cronenberg’s legacy, the impact’s been massive. Fans still talk about it to this day – and it even got the TV remake treatment in 2023.
Twins ended up being a massive hit, pulling in $216m at the box office. Even better, Reitman, Schwarzenegger and DeVito all skipped their upfront pay and took a cut of the profits instead—safe to say, it paid off big time. Don’t you just love it when a plan actually works?
