Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals the movies that made him a billionaire
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Film and TV, Money
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images/Warner Bros.
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Film and TV, Money
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been comfortably one of the biggest stars on TV over the last few decades, and his Hollywood success has translated to riches.
Arnold Schwarzenegger likely had quite a few naysayers when he shifted over to acting from bodybuilding, but boy has it paid off.
It would be more than fair to say he is one of the most recognizable people in Hollywood and when it came to cinema, he was certainly able to get butts in seats.
Initially Schwarzenegger struggled to get roles due to his thick Austrian accent, but when he broke into the scene he became a very safe pair of hands when creating a profitable hit.
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Over his career he has churned out around 50 films, which have made a total $5.5 billion at the box office.
This has translated to his own personal wealth due to his ability to take risks and strike up good deals. According to Forbes’ estimates, the 76-year-old is now worth $1 billion.
Speaking in 2016, the Terminator star said that studio executives were hesitant to make his first comedy Twins, which starred the always brilliant Danny Devito.
Instead of taking a salary, he opted to pocket nearly 20 percent of gross receipts instead.
The film became a big hit and he ended up getting $35 million, much more than he would have got on a salary for the flick. This proved to be such a good deal for him the studio would never make it again.
This would certainly become a trend as Schwarzenegger has over 13 films where the film box office earnings would be over $200 million.
Taking the top spot is 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day bringing in $520,881,154.
The second was 2015’S Terminator Genisys which brought in $440,603,537.
Coming in third was another film from the franchise, 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines which had a box office yield of $433,371,112.
1994’s True Lies also proved to be successful bringing in $378.882,411.
And in fifth place is The Expendables 2, which brought in $314,975,955.
But beyond his success at the movies, the star has said his financial success is very much down to his healthy appetite for risk.
Writing in his book Total Recall, he said: “Conservative bets – the kind that would generate 4 percent a year, say – didn’t interest me.
“I wanted big investments that were interesting, creative and different.”
So the bodybuilder-turned-movie star, turned Governor has certainly taken a few risks and has pretty much come out on top making millions over the years.