Lack of Arnold Schwarzenegger in ‘The Predator’ hurt box office

Arnold Schwarzenegger in
“Predator”
Fox

• “The Predator” may have topped the box office over the
  weekend, but it only made $24 million — far from a
  smash.
• Exhibitor Relations senior box-office analyst Jeff Bock
  told Business Insider that the movie would have made more money
  if Arnold Schwarzenegger had reprised his role from the 1987
  original “Predator.”
• “It could be sh– but it would be enough where people
  would go see it,” Bock said. 
• Director Shane Black said that Schwarzenegger turned
  down a role in the film because it was “too small.”
• Bock said the upcoming “Halloween” capitalized on the
  nostalgia factor that “The Predator” failed to do by bringing
  back Jamie Lee Curtis.

“The Predator” may have dethroned “The Nun” at the box office
over the weekend, breaking Warner Bros.’ five-week streak at the
top in the process, but it was far from a smash.

“The Predator” made just $24 million in its opening weekend.
According to Box Office Mojo,
that’s the worst for a live-action film opening in
over 4,000 locations, a title previously held by last year’s “The
Mummy.” 

The film was shrouded in controversy in the week leading up
to its release, as it was revealed that the studio Fox had
deleted a scene that featured
a registered sex offender and friend of director Shane Black’s,
who was included without the cast’s knowledge.

It’s unknown how this controversy affected audiences’
interest in the movie. But Exhibitor Relations senior box-office
analyst Jeff Bock told Business Insider that “The Predator” could
have made more money if it had capitalized on the franchise’s
nostalgia, specifically if it
brought back Arnold Schwarzenegger, who
starred in the original 1987 “Predator.”

“If Arnold was the lead, we’d be
talking about a $50 million opening,” Bock said. “It could be
sh– but it would be enough where people would go see it.”

But Schwarzenegger turned down a
role in the movie because he was offered too small of a part,
according to Black. Black told Yahoo Films UK that Fox
wanted “something a bit fresh,
that didn’t rely solely on Arnold’s
reemergence, but they were open to the idea to the notion of
having him in, in a smaller role.”

When Black approached
Schwarzenegger about the idea, Black said that Schwarzenegger
told him “if I was featured more, yeah, but what you’re
suggesting is that you’re creating this new thing and just using
me to bless it. Look, I wish you luck, but that’s too small
a role for me.”

Bock contrasted “The Predator” with the upcoming
“Halloween,” which he predicted will make a solid $50-60 million
in its opening weekend.

“No doubt about it, because it’s
not only a franchise but then you add in [the studio] Blumhouse
which knows how to construct a film and market it,” Bock said.
“And you’re reaching into the past with Jamie Lee Curtis, it’s
the nostalgia factor that ‘The Predator’ completely
missed.”