One of the biggest stars rising out of the ’80s Hollywood era was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at the time climbed to the top of the food chain as a cyborg assassin in James Cameron’s futuristic dystopian action flick, The Terminator (1984). Predator followed closely behind in 1987 and each of these franchises’ subsequent sequels secured the bodybuilder-turned-actor into the most sought-after leading man in the industry.
It is then only natural that a supporting actor who held more credit score with the audience would fetch more footfalls in theatres than the up-and-coming George Clooney in the film Batman & Robin.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Salary For Batman & Robin
Most reports from the time claim that the star who would go on to portray the iconic villain Mr. Freeze was paid manifold times more than Batman & Robin‘s actual lead, George Clooney. Arnold Schwarzenegger was definitely the bigger star at the time and that fact was relayed in the salary that The Terminator star received post-filming.
The tenure of Schwarzenegger in the movie, one of his most unconventional roles to date which reportedly only required his presence on the sets of the film for hardly a month, was awarded a $25 million paycheck — an amount that was 25 times higher than Clooney’s salary for portraying the dark knight.
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In Batman & Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger portrays Victor Freeze, a scientist who in an attempt to save his wife from a terminal illness accidentally becomes the victim of a drastic molecular metamorphosis which then makes him physically dysfunctional at normal temperatures. As a result, the villain wears a cryo-powered suit fuelled by diamonds and in his attempt to secure the largest gem yet, sets on a path to destroy all of Gotham until Batman and his trusty sidekick eventually save the day after defeating the “hockey team from hell” and the Iceman.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Tenure at Batman & Robin (1997)
The late 80s also welcomed another shift within the industry besides futuristic movies and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was the era that would definitively mark the advent of comic book movies and ignite the spark that would go on to snowball into the modern-day CBM industry. Tim Burton’s Batman which featured Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader was later spun into sequels directed by Joel Schumacher, a matter of much controversy at the time, and the latest mantle for playing the Bat of Gotham was passed down to George Clooney.
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Batman & Robin was a somewhat well-received film but failed in comparison to its predecessors. However, despite the negative criticism, the film stood out due to its stellar cast that comprised two major names from the industry in the supporting cast — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman. While the former portrayed the iconic Mr. Freeze, the latter brought an extra essence to the role of the toxic Poison Ivy. And it was Schwarzenegger’s stardom that made him the main attraction of the 1997 superhero flick, despite Clooney gliding around in the night and saving the day.
Source: Buzzfeed
