Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals ‘biggest payday’ wasn’t for The Terminator

Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that - despite what you might think - his role in The Terminator wasn’t the biggest payday he ever had in his career.

Actually, it wasn’t one of his best known films that generated the most income for Arnie, but one that most people who’ve seen it would rather forget.

Over a long career, Arnie has become one of the biggest film stars of all time, as well as dabbling in politics as the Governor of California.

Oh, and he was Mr Olympia a bunch of times, too.

Paramount Pictures

But, while most people remember the Austrian for roles in the Terminator franchise - helmed by Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron - as well as stuff like Total Recall and Jingle All the Way, it’s another film that made him the most cash in his career.

If you haven’t seen it, lucky you.

If you have, you probably already know what film we’re talking about.

Arnie has spoken before about how he was paid $30 million (£24k) for his role as a villain in Joel Schumacher’s 1997 flop Batman and Robin.

Arnie played Mr Freeze alongside stars like George Clooney - in the bat suit - and Chris O’Donnell - who played Robin.

Uma Thurman and Elle Macpherson were also involved, but even this level of 1990s star power couldn’t make it a success.

Arnie became known for his catchphrases, like ‘ice to see you’ and ‘cool party’.

Warner Bros.

He’s Mr Freeze, get it?

Anyway, the now-75-year-old has spoken about how this turned out to be the biggest payday in his career.

Schwarzenegger said: “It was Batman & Robin where they gave me over $30 million.

“I became the highest-paid entertainer in the history of Hollywood.”

The film, despite boasting a stellar cast and coming off the back of some other successful 90s Batman flicks, couldn’t live up to the hype.

Currently, it has a 3.7/10 score on IMDb.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it, though. Honestly, it’s kinda fun, if in a really bad sort of way.

It certainly paid Arnie well, and contributed significantly to his estimated fortune of around $450 million (£361m).

So, he’s not too worried.

He’s probably more happy with the way films like The Terminator, Total Recall, and even Twins, where he starred alongside Danny DeVito.

Warner Bros.

But, they can’t all be hits, and Arnie has had a decent career out of it.

After that, he went on to become the Governor of California, serving two consecutive terms between November 2003 and January 2011.

If you look at it, the folks who starred alongside him in Batman and Robin didn’t do too badly either.