Another Arnold Schwarzenegger Franchise Being Revived By Dwayne Johnson?
Could Dwayne Johnson be targeting a remake of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film? If so, then this one has major franchise potential
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If Dwayne Johnson sets his sights on a franchise there’s a good chance a couple of things are going to happen. The first is that he’s probably going to get it. And the second is he’s probably going to turn it into a massive hit. That’s just the way it’s going with his enormous talent and stardom. Johnson is at the top of the mountain when it comes to making hits and he might have his radar on another franchise. According to insider Daniel Richtman, Johnson is looking to remake an Arnold Schwarzenegger and it could be something like Total Recall.
Sure, we are only in the rumor phase on this news so we need to treat it as such. But there’s reason to believe that Dwayne Johnson would be targeting a franchise from the catalog of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The latter produced massive hits in the 1980s and 1990s with movies and franchises that had stories aligned with a certain, brawnier element that both actors share. When looking back through movie history, it makes sense that Johnson would align with the works of Schwarzenegger considering the two have considerable overlap in taste.
And this rumor being about Total Recall makes sense as well. For as cool and different as that movie was the first time around, it’s surprising they’ve never been able to fully franchise the concept and the story. In the original movie, loosely based on a Phillip K. Dick short story, Arnold Schwarzenegger is fighting issues and villains on a number of different fronts. There’s a memory recalibration element in which thoughts are implanted into one’s brain, but there’s also a grander conspiracy piece centered around life on Mars. The movie did a good job with these subplots, but no doubt someone like Dwayne Johnson could see the potential for much more. They might have only scratched the surface of stories in this universe.
There have been multiple efforts to bring Total Recall back into the mainstream over the years. There were planned series around the story and even a sequel discussed. None of those ever got off the ground, though they were able to get a remake done back in 2012 with Colin Farrell in the lead. It was mostly a bust, earning *just* $198 million back on its $125 million budget while also getting tanked by critics. No doubt Dwayne Johnson sees the opportunity to wipe the slate clean from that film and get back to the things that worked for the Arnold Schwarzenegger version.
Of course, we might be putting the Dwayne Johnson franchise cart before the muscular horse here. Though he might be eying an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle to reboot in some fashion, that would ultimately be way down the line. The Rock has plenty going on in the here and now. For starters, he’s going to release Black Adam which will mark his first foray into the world of comic book superheroes. It’s set to delve into the anti-hero’s story and will also introduce the Justice Society of America to the DC Extended Universe. This is all part of the latter’s continued world-building around new characters.
So will we see Dwayne Johnson reboot something from Arnold Schwarzenegger? It almost makes too much sense.
