It’s a failure and a bit forgotten: Schwarzenegger was forced to play in this movie!

While he was becoming a huge star after Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger was forced to star in a poorly received action film! Rated 2.0 out of 5 on Allociné with over 1,000 votes, John Irvine’s The Bodybuilder Contract is one of the actor’s worst movies, but why was he made to do it?

At that time, Arnold Schwarzenegger had a contract with Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. The latter gave him the chance to play Conan the Barbarian in the film of the same name and its sequel Conan the Destroyer, but their collaboration ended badly.

The financier forced the actress to shoot four weeks (instead of one) on Kalidor, The Legend of the Talisman, in which she was supposed to play only a short cameo, and turn the film – called “Red Sonja” into VO. Movie with Schwarzenegger.

Kalidor is part of our selection of the worst movies of the 80s!

After this trick, Schwarzenegger realizes that he has to part ways with the producer in order to pursue his career as he sees fit. Therefore, he agrees to make the film “The Contract” on the condition that he is released from his relationship with De Laurentiis. The French title is a good mnemonic to recall this anecdote!

Contract tells how Mark Kaminsky, a former FBI agent who was fired for his brutality, is contacted by his former boss to infiltrate a mafia gang led by a certain Patrovina and destroy its members one by one. Kaminsky accepts in the hope that this mission will allow him to return to the Bureau.

Dino De Laurentiis hopes that the success of the deal will allow him to earn enough money to finance Total Recall, which he plans to adapt for the big screen with Patrick Swayze, to the detriment of Schwarz, who is happy to play Doug. Quaid.

Ultimately, the contract was a critical and public failure, hastening the producer’s bankruptcy and ending his dreams of Philip K. on the adaptation of Dick’s story.

A project that is not lost on everyone, because the rights to the SF book will be sold to Carolco Pictures, who will adapt it in 1990 for a certain… Arnold Schwarzenegger! Great revenge for the actor!