Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest stars in the 1990s and his stature made him a frontrunner for some of the most coveted roles in Hollywood. As a result, it was no surprise that director Joel Schumacher wanted the actor to play the primary antagonist in 1997’s Batman & Robin, starring George Clooney as the Caped Crusader.
According to reports, Schumacher was so keen on casting The Terminator star that he gaslighted Schwarzenegger into accepting the part with some emotional words. Nonetheless, the film turned out to be a major disappointment becoming one of the worst DC movies ever made. However, Schwarzenegger earned a massive paycheck for the role. Here is how Joel Schumacher convinced Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Mr. Freeze.
Joel Schumacher Practically Begged Arnold Schwarzenegger to Play Mr. Freeze
Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast in the role of Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze for Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin. The character was reportedly also rewritten to accommodate Schwarzenegger and suit his style of acting. During a behind-the-scenes look at the film’s production, Schwarzenegger revealed how he got the part of Mr. Freeze.
“Joel Schumacher came to me and said that he would like me to play Mr. Freeze. ‘I would not direct the movie, because I only can do this movie if you play Mr. Freeze.’ So, what are you gonna do? I mean, screw up a whole movie?”
Schwarzenegger admitted that he was a fan of the Batman films and always wanted to play a villain in the DC franchise. However, he only became serious about it after Schumacher approached him for the role of Mr. Freeze.
“He made me feel like I would make this whole thing fall apart if I’m not part of this. So he made me feel like, you know, King Kong. So I said to him, I called him the next day and said, ‘You know something, Joel? I’m going to do Mr. Freeze.'”
Thus, Schwarzenegger implied that he was the first choice for the role. Furthermore, Schumacher himself confirmed that Schwarzenegger was his first and only choice for the villain in Batman & Robin. However, despite Schumacher’s confidence in Schwarzenegger and the project overall, the film failed to meet expectations and turned out to be a box office bomb.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Made $25 Million For His Role in Batman & Robin
Schumacher was so eager to get Schwarzenegger on board for the film that the actor was reportedly paid a massive salary one, that dwarfed even the paycheck of George Clooney, who was playing one half of the titular role. During an interview, Clooney himself confirmed that Schwarzenegger received a paycheck of $25 million for the role of Mr. Freeze.
“Schwarzenegger was paid, I think, $25 million for that, which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it, and, you know, we never even worked together! We worked together one day. But I took all the heat,”
Clooney made the above statement on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. Given his massive paycheck for the movie, it is easy to understand why Schwarzenegger does not regret the role. Schwarzenegger said the following in an interview with Empire about his experience in the film:
“I don’t regret it at all. I felt that the character was interesting and two movies before that one Joel Schumacher was at his height. So the decision-making process was not off. At the same time, I was doing Eraser over there and Warner Bros. begged me to do the movie.”
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Batman & Robin was made on a budget estimated to be between $125 and $160 million. However, the film could only manage to gross $238 million at the box office. Hence, spending $25 million on casting Schwarzenegger as the film’s primary villain did not prove to be a good investment in hindsight.
Batman & Robin is streaming on Max.
