Long before the Expendables franchise made them co-stars -- back when the Planet Hollywood restaurant china made them business partners -- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were competitors, each angling for the crown worn by Hollywood's "King of Action Movies." These guys dominated the silver screen in the 1980s and '90s, leading to a stiff standoff in the ego war that came with striving to reach the top. But that didn't mean that they couldn't mess with each other, and their careers, behind the scenes... as when Arnold now admits that he lied to trick Sly into starring in the dreadful Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who never saw Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty in the mother-and-son action comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. It's... not great. But Arnold Schwarzenegger recently told an audience at Beyond Fest (via SlashFilm) that he was offered the movie, and lied to be interested in it to get Stallone to commit. Schwarzenegger said:
I read the script. It was so bad. You know, I've also done some movies that went right in the toilet, right? That were bad. But this was really bad. So I went in -- this was during our war -- I said to myself, I'm going to leak out that I have tremendous interest. I know the way it works in Hollywood. I would then ask for a lot of money. So then they'd say, 'Let's go give it to Sly. Maybe we can get him for cheaper.' So they told Sly, 'Schwarzenegger's interested. Here's the press clippings. He's talked about that. If you want to grab that one away from him, that is available.' And he went for it! He totally went for it. A week later, I heard about it, 'Sly is signing now to do this movie.' And I said, [pumps fist] 'Yes!'
That's spectacular. Now it's time for Sylvester Stallone to come forward and admit that he somehow tricked Arnold Schwarzenegger into starring in Jingle All The Way.
Refresh your memory on the joy that is Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot with this retro trailer:
The Planet Hollywood venture brought Arnold and Sly back together, as well as fellow action giant Brice Willis. And later in life, the Expendables franchise continued to give all of these aging icons paychecks. And audiences, back in 1992, paid some money to see Stallone and Schwarzenegger in some of these stinkers. So who's laughing now?
