Arnie picks Last Stand for first post-scandal film

Arnold Schwarzenegger was all set to make his triumphant return to cinema, booking gigs in the action drama Cry Macho and setting up a fifth Terminator film with him in the lead. Then, the unpleasantness began.

In May, Schwarzenegger announced that he would temporarily step back from Hollywood deal-making to focus on his personal matters, which included a divorce from longtime wife Maria Shriver following the revelation that he had fathered a lovechild with their housekeeper.

Although the status of Cry Macho and Terminator 5 is left hanging in the air, Deadline reveals that Arnie is back in action, and has signed on to star in Kim-ji Woon‘s English language debut: the western The Last Stand.

Schwarzenegger will pick up a tidy $12.5 million upfront, and 25% of the first dollar gross. Shooting is expected to begin in September.

UPDATE: Lionsgate has released the official plot synopsis:

“Schwarzenegger will be starring as Sheriff Owens, a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled.   After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members.  He is headed, it turns out, straight for Summerton Junction, where the whole of U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever.  At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for one of the most daring face offs in cinema history.”

 

 

 

Discuss: Are you ready to welcome Arnie back to the big screen?