Vin Diesel + Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Fast and Furious star almost played the big bad guy in Terminator!

What if Vin Diesel lent his features to one of the villains of the Terminator saga? Of course, the American actor didn’t need this role to become a movie superstar, thanks in large part to the success of eleven installments in the Fast & Furious franchise.

But many people don’t know that originally Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines wasn’t supposed to be played by a woman. Although the role eventually went to Kristana Loken, the American actress was not the first choice of the film’s producers.

Vin Diesel was approached for the role of TX

Originally, it was Vin Diesel who was supposed to lend his features to Terminator-X. In the early 2000s, the latter was not yet one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but was preparing to become one thanks to the success of his films Fast & Furious, Pitch Black and xXx.

Discussions were held with the producer to try and cast him opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the third installment of the Terminator saga. However, the negotiations were not successful, for reasons that have not been publicly mentioned.

Fresh air on the saga

The decision to entrust the role to a woman indicates that it was decided not to cast two actors of similar profile to play the two enemies of the film. Already in Terminator 2, James Cameron surprised by choosing an unknown actor (Robert Patrick) for the role of T-1000.

The latter’s beautiful features and feline movements contrasted with Schwarzenegger’s body-built appearance of the Terminator. It is also known that in the first version of the script, Schwarzenegger was supposed to play two main roles in the film.

Vin Diesel’s musculature and his mono-expressive acting are close to those of the former California governor. Therefore, everything indicates that the production of Terminator 3 refused to confront two similar versions of the Terminator. Casting the actor for the role therefore made it possible to break this inevitable comparison, but also to bring a breath of fresh air into the saga.

Not the biggest failure of the saga

However, the film was not a success upon its release. The $433 million collected at the box office barely covered the $200 million budget (including $30 million for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s salary).

Critics are also harsh on the film, and the AlloCiné audience gives this third installment an average rating of 2.9 out of 5. Ironically, the sixth Terminator Dark Fate film – designed as a semi-reboot that erases Terminator 3 from the saga’s official timeline – was even less well received by internet users (average rating of 2.6 out of 5).

For internet users who want to see if Terminator 3 deserves to be rehabilitated, they should not delay because the feature film will leave the catalog of movies available on Netflix starting June 30th!