The wild stipulations Arnold Schwarzenegger laid down for ‘Terminator’ return
After going on the record several times throughout the 1990s and publicly stating that he wasn’t all that interested in making another Terminator movie unless James Cameron directed it, Arnold Schwarzenegger was free to write his own ticket when it happened without the original director at the helm.
The producers, production companies, and studios backing what would eventually become Rise of the Machines knew they didn’t have a leg to stand on unless the leading man and focal point of the sci-fi series agreed to reprise his role, which Schwarzenegger evidently saw as an opportunity to rinse them for every penny.
That’s not being critical because the ‘Austrian Oak’ got himself a hell of a deal, even if it was hardly fiscally responsible to toss so much cash in his direction. After all, Terminator 3 was the single most expensive movie ever made at the time, and for every penny that it earned at the box office and beyond, a hefty chunk was going straight into Schwarzenegger’s pocket.
99.9% of actors would be more than happy with an upfront salary of $29.25million, which he’d get whether or not the film was even made due to its ‘pay-or-play’ status. He also got a $1.5m bonus, which was essentially disposable funds he could spend however he saw fit, which in his case extended to private jet travel, a trailer containing a fully kitted-out gym, limousines, bodyguards, and hotel rooms.
The future governor of California also managed to negotiate 20% of the profits on every aspect of Terminator 3. Basically, for every dollar that the sequel earned in profit from cinemas, home video, television rights, in-flight screenings on planes, and merchandise, 20 cents went directly to Schwarzenegger.
Did his extravagant demands end there? They did not. The action icon was given pre-approval over almost every key creative involved in the production, which gave him the power of veto over the director, the rest of the ensemble cast, the people who did his hair and makeup, his stand-in and body double, and even the professionals who catered his meals or oversaw his personal health and wellbeing.
Standing him in good stead for his tilt at political office, Schwarzenegger exploited several tax loopholes, too, which included the funds being sent to his personally-controlled company and not his bank account, with Oak Productions leasing out the actor to Terminator 3 as an employee, not an individual entity who’d be liable to pay the typical tariffs.
As part of that agreement, Schwarzenegger lent himself to Rise of the Machines as an employee of a company he founded and owned, although he was at least contractually obligated to show up for a week of non-mandatory rehearsals, 18 weeks of principal photography, five days of reshoots, three days of domestic press duties, and a week of overseas promotional work.
The movie itself may have earned $433m at the global box office, but it was hardly profitable. In fact, it barely broke even once marketing and distribution costs had been factored in, but Schwarzenegger found himself laughing all the way to the bank thanks to his ironclad contract.
