Arnold Schwarzenegger turned down 'Predator' reboot appearance
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HOLLYWOOD, CA - AUGUST 15: Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives at Lionsgate Films' 'The Expendables 2' premiere on August 15, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)
He won’t be back.
Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected a brief appearance in the “Predator” reboot as his character from the original 1987 version of the film, Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, director Shane Black revealed.
“There were a couple of ideas to include [Schwarzenegger], mostly in the third act,” Black, 56, told Yahoo Movies UK.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The reboot takes place in the present day, 31 years after Schwarzenegger’s iconic first appearance as Dutch.
“The studio wanted, I think, something a bit fresh, that didn’t rely on solely on Arnold’s re-emergence, but they were open to the idea to the notion of having him in in a smaller role,” he continued. “I was fine with that, but it did present a problem, because when you call Mr. Schwarzenegger, you don’t want to say, ‘Hey, we got this smaller role for you if you want it.’ I felt embarrassed to ask him.”
In 2016, Schwarzenegger, 71, mentioned that he’d planned to meet with Black to discuss the role.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Black recalled, “He said, ‘Well, if I was featured more, yeah, but what you’re suggesting is that you’re creating this new thing and just using me to bless it.’ And so [I said], ‘Ahem … yes.’ And so I was not surprised when he said, ‘Look, I wish you luck, but that’s too small a role for me.’ ”
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.