Lionsgate has announced that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be returning to the world of film for their upcoming flick The Last Stand. It’s being developed specifically for him, and Lionsgate has domestic and international distribution rights to the film. On top of that it’s been pre-sold in plenty of overseas territories already, as if there was a chance of this one sitting on a shelf.
The first film Ahnuld stars in since 2003’s Terminator 3 is going to do huge business, which is why you can imagine the grin on the face of producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, he of Transformers, Stardust, and the upcoming Space Invaders. The Last Stand is based on a spec script by Andrew Knauer that was rewritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor, The Day After Tomorrow). Despite all these scary signs, the film will be directed by the incredible Kim Jee-Woon, who people are starting to get better acquainted with thanks to the success of I Saw The Devil.
The official synopsis-
Schwarzenegger will be starring as Sheriff Owens, a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Summerton Junction, where the whole of U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for one of the most daring face offs in cinema history.
We knew that Kim Jee-Woon (A Tale of Two Sisters and The Good, The Bad, The Weird) would get into Hollywood eventually- it happens to so many great foreign directors. But this is huge.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger will bring incredible magnetism to this complex but classic role,” said Lionsgate president Joe Drake in a press release. “When he came on the screen in The Expendables, it always electrified the audience. In this film, the Sheriff Owens character grapples with some really tough stuff, but ultimately triumphs, and we knew he’d truly elevate this high octane ride.”
He wins? What a surprise! Guess we don’t have to see the film now.
More as we hear it!