For Good Reason, Arnold Says NO to Both EX4 & The Predator!

Director and Writer Shane Black is moving forward on 2018’s The Predator without Arnold Schwarzenegger!  It breaks our heart to read in a recent interview with Yahoo Movies that  Arnold said he would have liked to star in the film if only he had a more substantial role. We were so close to getting Arnold in another Predator! But we can’t blame him for saying no as he had a very good reason!

Schwarzenegger: “They asked me, and I read it, and I didn’t like it — whatever they offered. So I’m not going to do that, no. Except if there’s a chance that they rewrite it, or make it a more significant role. But the way it is now, no, I won’t do that.”

When Arnold says “I didn’t like it,” he was referring to the fact that his character was so limited, not that the script itself was not enjoyable. Still, why on earth would Hollywood wait so long to do another Predator film WITHOUT the person who made it a worldwide phenomenon in the first place? Arnold was willing to be the lead in this or have a big starring role so why would someone just write Dutch in as a cameo or very small role? And why bother writing a script at all without him? Arnold is here, come on, use him, he’s here! 

Shane Black and the film studio are getting hit hard by fans expressing their disappointment, disgust and threats to boycott the film. 20th Century Fox and the director are going into crisis mode. Are they rethinking this missed opportunity? Serious and immediate rewrites to save this picture from disaster should be heavily considered. Without Arnold, why bother calling this film “Predator"? Call it "Space Beast” or something else unrelated. 

In related news, Schwarzenegger has more reason to say no to another film. Sylvester Stallone said that he would not return as Barney Ross in Expendables 4. He had withdrawn from the fourth installment of the action franchise because Sly and Nu Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner could not find common ground on a new director and disagreed on the script. With that being said, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to not be in Expendables 4 unless his good friend Sly is in the movie. Also Arnold wanted to make sure his role as Trench Mauser is well developed.

“You know, I think the first and second one were terrific,” Schwarzenegger tells Entertainment Weekly. “But, the third one, I thought my part was not written well. It was also not playing well in the movie, as far as I was concerned. Maybe other people believed differently. But I didn’t believe that I had any value in the movie. I love the franchise, by the way. I think it’s a spectacular franchise, The Expendables. I think that Sly has good ideas, what he wants to do with it, and I think if they write a really good script [in] which my part is very well-developed, I would do it. If not, then I won’t do it.”