Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the biggest names to have ever featured in Hollywood movies. The actor has been successful in everything he attempted, from bodybuilding to acting and politics. However, far behind his triumphs, the action star also has some regrets. And he seems to feel the same way about Paul Verhoeven’s canceled movie that could have potentially made him an Oscar winner.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Talks About Paul Verhoeven’s Crusade
Popular for starring in the sci-fi film series The Terminator and several other action movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger has portrayed several iconic characters on screen. However, like many other Hollywood stars, he has also lost plenty of opportunities that could have set his acting career on a different path.
During an interview with Empire, the Predator star mentioned some of the movies he lost or that were canceled. He shared that he had to deny Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket as he did not have time to do that. Apart from that, he was also set to star as Doctor Octopus in James Cameron’s Spider-Man that never happened.
However, the movie he feels most disappointed to lose is Paul Verhoeven’s movie, which he was very ambitious about. The actor shared that the Basic Instinct director was set to work on a big-budget epic about the Crusades, titled Crusade. However, the actor claimed that everything regarding the film was ready before things went south during a final meeting with the studio.
What Happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Crusade?
His interview with Empire states that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a huge poster of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1935 movie The Crusade, which also landed an Oscar nomination. Further talking about Paul Verhoeven’s Crusade, he shared that everything regarding the film was ready, including its script, before “Paul started going crazy.”
He shared that during a final meeting, the studio asked for a guarantee that the movie’s budget would not surpass $100 million. It led the filmmaker to lose his cool, and he went on a full rampage about how guarantees are nothing but lies.
“Guarantees don’t happen, and if anyone promises you guarantees, they’re lying!” Schwarzenegger recalled the filmmaker’s words. The actor shared that as it happened, he was trying to shut him down, but it did not work. “I kept kicking him under the table and trying to tell him to shut up while we’re ahead,” he recalled.
He shared that it was the end of the movie. Crusade reportedly went into pre-production in 1993 and was also set to star Jennifer Connelly, Gary Sinise, John Turturro, and Robert Englund alongside the True Lies star. However, the movie never saw the light of the day.
Source: Empire
