With the release of Terminator: Genisys just a week away, Arnold Schwarzenegger is now turning his attention to his next project. While Arnold has primarily focused on the action genre that made him a star since he left the California governor’s office in 2011, he also hasn’t been afraid to take on work that requires a bit more of him as an actor. His next film appears to follow in this latter vein. He has now signed on to star in 478 a story that will have him seeking vengeance upon a man he blames for the death of his family.
The story, as reported by Deadline, is about Schwarzenegger’s character, who loses his wife and child in a plane crash due to an error by an air traffic controller. Schwarzenegger goes after the controller in order to seek his revenge, even though his target has been placed in protective custody, since Arnold likely isn’t the only one who wants to see him dead. The story will reportedly focus more on the pain and grief that Arnold’s character is dealing with, rather than his hunt for his target. So while the film may very well have strong action, that’s not the focus of the story. The script was written by Javier Gullon, who recently wrote the Jake Gyllenhaal film Enemy.
Arnold appears to be trying to put together a somewhat diverse post-politics film career. On the one hand he’s going back to the well of his star-making franchises, like Terminator, Conan, and possibly even Twins. He’s added to that with some original action films, that can all be generally described as "has been hero" movies. However, in the middle of all that, he drops in a film like Maggie, where he really gets a chance to stretch out his acting muscles and see what he can do. While Maggie was a flop at the box office, many reviews praised Arnold’s ability in the role of a father who is forced to watch his daughter slowly turn into a zombie. 478 is feeling something very much like this, a man in pain whose only outlet that he sees is taking revenge on the man he blames for the loss of his family. As an actor Arnold likely enjoys the diversity of roles. Time will tell whether audiences are interested in seeing them.
Arnold’s new film is looking to begin shooting this fall. There’s no news of a director being attached so that’s likely the next thing the project will be looking for. Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa production company will be producing the film. Expect a release date in late 2016 or early 2017.
