Hyped as his first big screen leading role since he left politics, The Last Stand opened at the US box office over the weekend, and instantly will have given those funding Arnold Schwarzenegger's future movies a lot of cause for concern.
Once upon a time, Schwarzenegger films were a shoo-in for top of the box office. The Last Stand, on a generally solid weekend for box office returns in the States (Mama, starring Jessica Chastain, topped the charts with an impressive $28.1m), opened at number ten in the chart. What's more, it did it with a gross of just $6.3m. That's about half of what had been predicted going into the weekend.
The film reportedly cost around $30m to make, and as it rolls out around the world, we'd expect it to enjoy more success that it has done in the US. But there are nonetheless serious question marks now over the box office pulling power of its once-bankable leading man.
His rusty performance in The Expendables 2 won't have helped, and truthfully, even though this is Schwazenegger's first leading role since Terminator 3, he's only been off cinema screens for five months. Furthermore, question marks are being asked over the direction of some of the promotional work in the States. The last time hand-drawn posters were used to promote a Schwarzenegger film was for, if our memory serves, Last Action Hero.
Arnie has The Tomb, alongside Sylvester Stallone, due out later this year. He's also set to start shooting The Legend Of Conan. We wonder, though, if he may be inclined to fast-track Terminator 5, given that it's arguably the most bankable role he's got left in his locker.
The Last Stand opens in the UK on Friday. It's better than its US take may lead you to believe.
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