“Lizards Eat Arnold’s Lunch”: $1.2 Billion Hollywood Franchise Revived by Chris Pratt Left Arnold Schwarzenegger Crying in 1993

Published 07/15/2023, 10:01 AM EDT

In 1991 Arnold Schwarzenegger took over the box office with the biggest movie of the year and possibly his career, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Riding high on its success, the Hollywood superstar was confident about his next movie, th Last Action Hero (1993). In his 2012 book, Schwarzenegger confessed to liking the concept of the movie. It blended action and comedy, “the two kinds of roles I did best,” wrote Schwarzenegger. However, Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking film shattered every expectation the bodybuilding icon had.

Speilberg’s film became just as groundbreaking and influential as Schwarzenegger’s Terminator franchise. The original film left Arnold Schwarzenegger in tears and spawned a trilogy. In 2015, Arnie’s son-in-law Chris Pratt starred in the reboot. Today, the combined budget of the Jurassic Park franchise stands at $1.2 billion. In his book, Arnie recalled what it felt like to compete against the first Jurassic Park film at the box office.

Why it became such a huge deal for Arnold Schwarzenegger

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In 1993, The Last Action Hero opened to dismal reviews. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the biggest star in Hollywood and the film’s reception galvanized his critics. Besides that, the Governator also campaigned for President George H. W. Bush around that time. Hence, the critics went after The Last Action hero and Schwarzenegger. Arnie labeled it a “political attack.”

Instead of The Last Action Hero, “Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park became the summer hit everybody had to see,” Arnie wrote in his book. Like the massive T-Rex that stomped cars in Spielberg’s film. Jurassic Park “stomped” Schwarzenegger’s film at the box office. Jurassic Park successes at such a scale that it outdid another Spielberg film, “E.T. as the biggest success in movie history.”

In his 2012 book, Arnie quoted Variety, who wrote, “Lizards Eat Arnold’s Lunch.” However, to this day Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that The Last Action Hero got “slaughtered” before people got a chance to see it. The reviews, the political attack, and “the bad luck to have scheduled the movie’s release for the weekend after Jurassic Park’s opening,” played a role in the downfall. However, the Terminator franchise is still going strong.

Jurassic Park vs. The Terminator franchise

In 2015, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son starred in the $150 million reboot of the iconic Jurassic Park franchise. The 2015 film made a mindboggling 1.6 billion at the box office. The two films that followed made less, but all three films made over a billion at the box office. While we don’t know how the franchise will move forward, there is plenty of steam left in the dino-powered concept.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $85,000,000 Worth Movie That Was “Slaughtered” at the Time of Release Is Still “Getting the Residual Checks” After 30 Years

The Terminator franchise has earned roughly $1.4 billion at the box office, the production budget of all six Terminator films is far less than the Jurassic Park franchise. While Universal spent $845 million on the two latest Jurassic World films, six Terminator films have spent less than $820 million. Hence, it’s safe to say that both franchises have stood the test of time and are still going strong.

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Do you agree with Arnold Schwarzenegger that The Last Action Hero is better than it gets credit for? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Sagnik Bagchi is a sports writer at EssentiallySports who specializes in American sports. He has a deep understanding of combat sports, gymnastics, and weightlifting. He holds a Master's Degree in English Literature from a top university.

Edited by:

Parth Sharma

“Lizards Eat Arnold’s Lunch”: $1.2 Billion Hollywood Franchise Revived by Chris Pratt Left Arnold Schwarzenegger Crying in 1993

Why it became such a huge deal for Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Jurassic Park vs. The Terminator franchise