Arnold Schwarzenegger Says He Made More Money From TWINS Than Any Other Film in His Career
Arnold Schwarzenegger casually dropped the kind of Hollywood earnings bombshell during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. It’s there he revealed that the 1988 comedy Twins ended up being his most lucrative film.
“It was more than any movie I ever made,” Schwarzenegger said, revealing he earned over $40 million from the Ivan Reitman-directed comedy co-starring Danny DeVito.
Schwarzenegger starred in so many iconic blockbuster films in his career with The Terminator franchise, Predator, Total Recall, True Lies, and it was Twins, the oddball comedy where he plays a genetically engineered twin brother to DeVito, that made him the most money.
How did that happen? It all came down to a clever back-end deal. Schwarzenegger explained:
“Well, number one was Twins because we got no money for the salary but ownership with a piece of the back end. It was fantastic. We went all the way to the bank with that.”
He and DeVito agreed to take zero up-front salary in exchange for 40% of the film’s profits, betting on the film’s potential instead of demanding big checks. The gamble paid off. Big time.
When asked if his earnings were more than $40 million, Schwarzenegger confirmed it went even higher. “It was more than that. It was more than any movie I ever made.”
Twins ultimately grossed $216 million worldwide and continued to rake in cash via home video, becoming one of the most unexpectedly profitable comedies of its era.
At the time, studios weren’t exactly lining up to put Schwarzenegger in a comedy. “They said, ‘Are you crazy? The more people that this guy kills on-screen, the more money we make. Why would we change that?’” he recalled in a Variety Actors on Actors conversation with his son Patrick.
But Reitman and DeVito saw something different—and believed in the idea. Schwarzenegger took a massive swing with the business model.
“If we don’t take any salaries, we can shoot the movie for $16.5 million. We worked out a deal where we got 40% of the backend of the movie. It happened to be the best deal we’ve ever made.”
Fans have long hoped for a sequel. A follow-up called Triplets, which would have added Eddie Murphy to the mix, was in development, but never materialized. “Reitman passed away before we wanted to start shooting,” Schwarzenegger said, signaling that the dream might have ended with the original film’s director.