Showbiz411

The end of days may have come for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie career. “The Last Stand,” his big return to movies after serving as Governator of California, is a bust all over the world. “The Last Stand” has made just $11.7 million in the US and $13.2 million abroad. Producers say it cost $45 million, but we can add a good fifteen-to-twenty million for promotion, expenses, and prints. Arnold is getting at least $10 million, and probably off the top–from gross income.

All this means that “The Last Stand” may be Arnold’s last stand unless he wants to fund his own movies or hope for foreign money and a revival of “Terminator” movies. Otherwise, his age, his absence from films, and his terrible personal behavior and family scandal may have done him in.

On top of that, Schwarzenegger’s autobiography, “Total Recall,” was a dud for publishers who hoped to cash in on Arnold’s old popularity.

This hasn’t been an easy year for former box office draws. Sylvester Stallone had a disappointing first weekend for his stupidly titled “Bullet in the Head.” The movie managed to attract $4.5 million worth of an audience this past weekend. But expectations are not high for the future. Who in their right mind would give a movie that kind of title based on recent events? Dare we say out loud what we’re thinking?

And Tom Cruise‘s “Reacher” is leaving theaters just shy of $80 million. “Reacher” will break even and maybe make a dollar or two. But without hitting $100 million, it doesn’t seem like anyone will make more “Reacher” movies. The public isn’t clamoring for a sequel. Cruise will return to the “Mission: Impossible” series. He’ll also hope for better things with his next non-franchise outing called “Oblivion.”

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.