After spending his time in office as the last Republican governor of California ensuring that he would indeed be the last Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to return to acting. He starred in one bomb after another.
He hasn't starred in a single movie that broke the $100 million mark since Terminator 3 in 2003. The closest he came to one of those after leaving office was an appearance in The Expendables. His attempts at returning to action movies failed miserably, $12 mil for The Last Stand, $25 mil for Escape Plan, even the Terminator sequel couldn't break $100 million domestic.
Even his Apprentice gig tanked. So you can guess what he's doing now.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — the “Terminator" action hero who made "I'll be back" one of filmdom's most iconic phrases — may be mulling a political comeback, according to several GOP political insiders in California.
The prospect of Schwarzenegger’s return to elected politics in a 2018 U.S. Senate run — possibly as an independent — is generating increasing buzz in state Republican circles, fueled by the former governor’s seeming ability to get under the skin of President Donald Trump on social media.
Is this really what anyone is banking on? Schwarzenegger running for office because Trump attacks him on Twitter? At least the GOP won't be blowing a fortune on yet another doomed bid by a liberal Republican.
But Arnold's governorship only happened because his movie career was flagging. By the late 90s, he was well past his prime. His big hits were behind him. Eraser was his last hit action movie. End of Days and 6th Day turned him into a punchline. But then he became Governor of California. Now his career is even more of a mess. So it's time to run for the Senate.