As you all know, Arnold Schwarzenegger told TheArnoldFans that he’ll BE BACK to film an all-new Terminator film in New Orleans and San Francisco next month. But we have breaking news on who else will be returning; joining Arnold will be another original Terminator alumni! While we’ve been hearing a lot about casting of the lead characters, we have not yet heard who will be creating the cyborgs and robots! We’re here to tell you now that the Terminators are in good hands as John Rosengrant confirms to TheArnoldFans.com that it’s a DONE DEAL with the studio!

Honestly, how angry would you have been if the endoskeletons were suddenly ripped out of the hands of the original maker and developed by someone inexperienced with Cyberdyne robotics? Stan Winston can now smile down from above and bless Terminator Genesis as John Rosengrant worked under Stan’s wing on all the other Schwarzenegger films. He even handled the Terminator: Salvation robotics and has a cameo in the Christian Bale film. 

Rosengrant tells TheArnoldFans about his smaller tasks working on T1 before he took on bigger cybernetic challenges of the following Terminator films.

“I sort of had my hands in everything when I first started working for Stan,” begins Rosengrant. “Running appliances and there are two things that I had done on that movie that were quick and interesting things that were featured in the film. Like when Arnold cuts his eyeball out and throws the eye skin in the sink. I called the shop and told them that they were going to shoot and we had to come up with something really quickly. I started making these skins that Arnold could throw into the sink.”

Although it’s a relief to hear Legacy Effects will return to Terminator, we are sad to hear that our Oscar-winning friend, Jeff Dawn, will NOT be back! Dawn was the lead make-up artist for T1-T3 and although he tells TheArnoldFans that he wishes Arnold the best, he will not be returning, as he’s happy on his current projects. Arnold and Jeff are good friends and got along very well in the make-up room so it’s a shame this duo is no more. Who do you think should head the make-up department? Perhaps Jeff or Rosengrant has a good recommendation.

"We are officially back,” Rosengrant confirms to TheArnoldFans regarding his Terminator Genesis contract. Rosengrant’s FX company, Legacy Effects, is now hard at work drawing all new designs for Skynet’s deadliest and will soon create some amazing new Terminators to share screen-time with Schwarzenegger.

I had an exhausting but thrilling time at this year's Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, OH! "Festival" really does fit the idea of what this weekend has become, as there are more events and things to see than one is physically capable of over the 3+ days. The "Classic" part of it, or the Bodybuilding Finals, while still the main event on Saturday night to a sold out audience, is no longer the main reason most people come to Columbus. Whether you're an Arnold Fan, a fitness guru, a competitor or spectator at one of the 45 sports events, or just someone curious about what all the fuss is about, there's something for everyone at The Arnold!

I had the pleasure of talking with several cool people over the course of the weekend. The first one is Eric Fleishman, or as he is better known, Eric the Trainer! Eric trains many celebrities in Hollywood, including Arnold's own son Patrick Schwarzenegger! He has a program that is meant to add muscle and cut fat quickly so actors can get that ideal physique for a role, or just to be fit in general.

I met Eric at the Gold's Gym booth, where they were selling the great Howard Kleiner t-shirts. He is obviously a well-built, fairly big guy, and he is also extremely energetic and friendly. He just has the air of a genuinely happy guy who loves what he does. He brought me over to the massive MusclePharm booth which was perfect since it had images of young Arnold all over to promote the Arnold Series line of supplements. We sat down in their cushy inner-lounge and started talking.

TheArnoldFans: How far back do you go with Arnold and The Classic?

Eric: First of all you have to realize that I grew up on a farm in Maine in the middle of nowhere... we had pigs and sheep and there was no sense of strong masculinity or action other than the Arnold movies that I would see at our local theater and eventually watching it on VCR tapes and so Arnold was a very big influence on me early on because up until that point I'd only seen giant guys like that comic books. I was a big super hero fan. When I started seeing movies like the Terminator and Commando that made a huge influence on me and I think it helped shape my career as it is today.

TheArnoldFans: What is your philosophy of training?

Eric: My philosophy is it's all about good looks and good health one of one of my mentors was a guy named Jack LaLanne who is more of an ambassador of fitness than he was body builder but because of the influence of superheroes and guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger, my goal in my career was to be the guy that was half Jack LaLanne happy fitness guy and half serious bodybuilder like Arnold— to straddle those two worlds. Arnold has always been a huge influence on me also he's always been the alpha male in every situation he's ever been in. I think to succeed in life you have to rise to the top and take charge the way that he did. He also defied the odds and if you saw the house I grew up in this desolate wasteland they call Maine, you would understand how I defied the odds to come out to Los Angeles and build a massive fitness business out there with movie stars and television personalities, it’s been great.

TheArnoldFans: How did you get your start doing that?

I went to college in Connecticut and moved to New York City afterwards and worked in New York City for five years as a personal trainer and in New York in Manhattan I trained the heads of business I trained Broadway actors, some television actors, a lot of fashionistas because the fashion industry is in New York City, but I realized that to make a huge impact in this world it had to be done in Los Angeles that's where it all radiates from across the globe in so I moved to LA and and it all worked out man!

TheArnoldFans: Have you met Arnold, and do you have some good stories about it?

I have some great stories, I've met him several times and spent time with him extensively. The first time I met Arnold I was so excited to meet him I didn't know what I was going to say. I saw him coming towards me I knew we were to get a chance to talk and so he shook my hand I looked into his eyes and he only thing I could muster was “I train with Don Howorth” cause it turns out that I was training at the time with a guy named Don Howorth who was the Duke of Deltoids, Mr. America 1967 and I knew that Arnold when he was a young bodybuilder dreamed of having shoulders as amazing as Don’s, so I said to him, “I train with Don Howorth,” and he stopped and his eyes grew wide and he went “Whaat? What?” and started making all this noise— it actually terrified me I thought I’d done something to offend him, but he was so excited and and since then every time we see each other we’re very friendly I was with him two nights ago at Golds Gym in Venice. They had a huge party for Flex magazine and Muscle & Fitness magazine. Luckily, I’ve been able to train his son Patrick and he is on his way to Columbus right now… as soon as he lands, he and I are going to gym for big workout here in Columbus so I'm very close to Arnold and his family.

TheArnoldFans: How is Patrick doing?

He’s doing great, I trained him all summer long he got a lot of press for the way his body changed, he was in People magazine he was on TMZ… people were talking about what incredible changes he had gone through and then of course he's in college so when he went back to USC in the fall, we haven’t worked out as much as we wanted to, because his studies take first priority. He’s being considered for some giant roles and... he's really making education the priority in his life right now because he doesn’t want to get seduced by Hollywood and put that behind him so I think he's smart in getting an education first and getting a degree and then he can jump right into the movie world just like his dad.

TheArnoldFans: Have you tried any of the MusclePharm Arnold Series products? 

I have… because I'm actually the official Hollywood physique expert of MusclePharm… which is yet another way Arnold and I are connected, we’re both MusclePharm guys. I think it's so exciting Arnold has a product that he's put his name behind, it’s so high quality. MusclePharm is really notorious for the highest level of product, they do amazing development, they’re connected with the UFC… it's just it's a great company and so for Arnold and I to be connected with MusclePharm is a true honor. 

TheArnoldFans: So you know Chef Robert Irvine, how did that happen?

I was introduced to Robert Irvine at the Olympia this past year because he had just signed with Gold’s Gym and I'm a Gold's Gym guy... so Robert and I were introduced in that capacity and he been working out for a while and had a pretty commanding physique, but nobody had ever made him look like a movie star- nobody had taken all the exercise he had done and really funneled it into a strategy where his waist would be small, his shoulders would be broad and he would look larger than life on screen... like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I got a chance to work with him starting in early October, and he's gone through such a physical renaissance- his body’s changed so much that even the executives at the Food Network reached out to me saying "Congratulations man, we can’t believe how good he looks!" I'll be training with him this weekend here and and then in two weeks he and I are going over to Abu Dhabi together- I’m going to be training the troops over there and he's going to be cooking for them, it’s going to be an amazing time. 

TheArnoldFans: We talked to him recently and he mentioned wanting to work on a project with you about nutrition in schools. 

Eric: Robert and I have been asked by people in the government to use our influence and our knowledgebase to help them find ways to combat childhood obesity. It's a topic that Robert and I are both very passionate about and so we have things in the works... going to schools, meeting with administrators, working directly with the kids, and helping them become more active, eat healthier food, and all in all become healthier little kids, because that’s the future. 

TheArnoldFans: What are your top three Arnold movies?

Eric: Okay that's a tough one- I saw a little bit of Sabotage already, and I have to say that that's in the top three. I was lucky enough to work with an actor named Max Martini, who’s also in Captain Philips and Pacific Rim… and so to get Max ready to to be on screen with Arnold was a real thrill. Commando is one of my favorite movies of all time- I love Commando, and actually True Lies, I mean that was just a terrific performance. I’m a huge Arnold fan when it comes to the cinema and I'm an even bigger fan when it comes to the gym, so I should join your organization, I’m with you, man!

TheArnoldFans: What do you think of Arnold's classic franchises like Terminator that he's coming back to?

Eric: The Terminator is one of those franchises where it could’ve been hokey, but because it was done with Arnold and Jim Cameron it was very dark, very serious, and beautifully executed. That was one of the highest levels of science-fiction where they take the normal world that you and I are used to and they insert this extra element of imagination into it and it just makes it makes it feel real and that's the kind of scary because there are things about that world you recognize, and there are things that are very foreign and dangerous. I loved it, I thought it was great.

Here’s a little ArnoldFans exclusive: I actually modeled my physique currently after Arnold Schwarzenegger and in many cases in gyms people that know Arnold will see my physique and they’ll say “That reminds me of the way Arnold looked” which is what I wanted. Here's an amazing thing— a guy named Tony Nowak who made the jacket you're wearing now made Arnold's pants for The Terminator. Tony looked at me because he used to work out with Arnold and he said to me “You have the same physique that Arnold had,” and he presented me with a pair of pants that Arnold wore in The Terminator, those custom made leather pants, and they fit like a glove. I have them at my house— the actual pants that he wore in the film… they fit perfectly, we have the same measurements. I’m exactly 235, like he was when he competed. 

TheArnoldFans: Where should someone start if they want to get serious about training? 

Eric: For you or anyone else that wants to start an exercise program or just become healthier, there are three things you have to remember, and number one is exercise. The exercising that you do you should reflect what your goal is, so if you’re a cross fit guy you should be doing activities that lead you toward cross fit success. If you're more of a bodybuilder like Arnold was, you should be in the gym lifting weights so you see the physical changes you desire. The second thing is diet: the diet you eat should reflect what you want to achieve, so if you're a guy that’s looking to lose weight, lean protein sources, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lots of water in relatively small amounts is the best way to go. If you’re looking to gain weight like a lot of guys are you have to be more aggressive with the amount of protein you eat especially eggs, dairy, and beef, that’ll help you grow. Lastly, sleep is the most important of the three because sleep is the only time the body changes… so there's no way you can lose weight or gain weight unless you prioritize sleep in your life. 

TheArnoldFans: Is there anything else you want to promote right now? 

Eric: I just want to say to all the Arnold Fans out there that he's a great guy to follow and emulate. He’s a terrific example of success and hard work paying off and I lend my support to everything you guys do.

Thanks, Eric! It was great talking with you!
Follow Eric on Twitter, and be back for my interview with Robert Irvine and more coverage from The Arnold!

On Wednesday, March 19th, the stars of SABOTAGE all stepped up to our mic one-by-one while TheArnoldFans covered the red carpet premiere at the  Regal Cinemas LA Live. Soon we'll bring you our action-packed exclusive interviews with director David Ayer and film stars Joe Manganiello, Olivia Williams and many other ass-kickers. But before we get to those, we know you demand the Arnold interview first...so let's get to it!

During our time on the red carpet and after-party with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Avi Lerner, EX3 producer, we got to finally hear how many hours Schwarzenegger invested into the third Expendables film. It was 4 hours on the first film when he was Governor and 4 days for the second film. So how many days was Schwarzenegger on-set filming Expendables 3?

“Five to seven days; about a week,” Avi tells TheArnoldFans.com.

Schwarzenegger also spoke Expendables 3 with TheArnoldFans.

“We filmed for a while down there in Bulgaria and it was really terrific. It’s always great to work with those great actors. You go on a set with great actors and it raises your performance level. It’s like guys working out in the gym; well, you don’t want to do less bench presses than he does, so you raise your level, do more weights, more reps.”

But enough Expendables 3, let’s talk Sabotage! Schwarzenegger tells TheArnoldFans that David Ayer is the next James Cameron!

“In Sabotage, Olivia William’s performance is so unbelievable, it immediately inspired me to give it my all! That’s what you see in this movie, the performance is really great and the director, David Ayer, I tell you, he’s another Jim Cameron! He writes himself, he directs himself. He has a sense for finality, authenticity, and he does the research.”

See how far Arnold Schwarzenegger will go to protect his family and his team in Open Road's action thriller, SABOTAGE! When his wife is taken, and his team is being eliminated, Schwarzenegger must get to the bottom of this mystery before it's too late. See Schwarzenegger kick some serious ass in Sabotage on March 28th! 

Arnold and Joe Manganiello have been all over the place in full promotional force for Sabotage! To kick off the final countdown to Friday, on Sunday night Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Manganiello gave the NYPD a very special screening of Sabotage! These two mega-stars shook hands and took some memorable photos with these brave men and women. Here are some of the pics:

They are hitting the internet and TV hard, too. Just yesterday, Joe and Arnold did a Twitter Q&A with IGN, showed up with Hulk Hogan on WWE Raw, then Arnold was on Jimmy Fallon (including tank stories and a funny "Get to the choppah" bit). See clips from these shows below:

Here's a bonus flashback to one of Arnold's other memorable appearances on WWE- in 1999, right before the release of End of Days!

Of course, the crazy schedule continues! Today, on Reddit at 11:30am PST/ 2:30pm EST there will be a REDDIT AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Schwarzenegger and acclaimed director/writer David Ayer. These two have a lot to say about their groundbreaking new film, so don’t miss it! 

On The Nerdist podcast #496 with Chris Hardwick (T3 co-star), Sabotage star Arnold Schwarzenegger pelted the fans with a ton of information. Our first nugget was him revealing new Twins 2 details about how Julius and Vincent discover how they have another brother!

Arnold tells The Nerdist, "Now, we're working on a ['Twins'] sequel, 'Triplets', where we have Eddie Murphy coming in…the story will basically be that our mother passes away and we are reading the Will and everything, and we find out there's a third one [brother]. We now have to find the third one, and she never told us!"

The actor continues "It was a really, really great concept they came up with. They gain someone who looks totally different, but can be sold as the same age, so we're going to do that movie after 'Terminator 5', which I'm starting [shooting] April 28th."

It sounds like Arnold will play several different ages in T5!  
 
Arnold – "The Director wants me to be exactly the same as I was in 1984 because the person (cyborg tissue) is of human flesh but underneath is a metal endoskeleton. So the human flesh ages just like everyone else does but the skeleton doesn't change. Therefor he (The Terminator, has to be that same body, physically the same thing, even though you have a little grey going on or this kind of thing that when you see me now coming back. So it is very important that I step it up and instead of just 45 minutes of weight training, I do more an hour-and-a-half and I  gain an extra 5 and a half or 7 pounds or pure muscle and get that body back that I had then. I play kind of the Terminator protector-like character. We can switch back and fourth to a 25-year-old, vs a 35 yer old vs a 55 year old (Terminator) in the future of 2029. They will play around with that (various ages), but the body needs to always stay the same. But the make-up and hair will change."

You can listen to the entire hour and twenty two minutes of Arnold audio candy alongside the king of Nerdist at http://www.nerdist.com/2014/03/nerdist-podcast-arnold-schwarzenegger/

Finally, In other Twins 2 news, Arnold said in a live Q and A tweet session today with IGN that he wants Joe Manganiello, who stars alongside him in "Sabotage", filling a role of one of Danny Devito's twin sons in "Triplets".

On the red carpet for the Sabotage premiere, I spoke with the director, David Ayer, who not only tells TheArnoldFans that the film was originally 3 hours long, he also tells us that he has a Commando script for Arnold! Just imagine the iconic return of John Matrix but mixed with a contemporary yet gritty directing style of an Ayer film!

TheArnoldFans: Would you like to work together with Arnold? How about Commando 2?  

David Ayer: "Yes, a Commando reboot is something I've definitely been kicking around and I actually did a draft of a script. Right now I am currently finishing another film, but I'm open to it." 

TheArnoldFans: Does "reboot" mean NEW CAST with a NEW John Matrix actor or does Arnold get offered the role first? 

David Ayer: "it would be a new cast." 

Arnold, listening in and not happy with David's response or possibly now wanting to do this film, now chimed in.

 Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Make sure we talk!"  

TheArnoldFans: Can you talk about the Sabotage deleted scenes? 

David Ayer: "There are many deleted scenes. I think the first assembly of this film was about three hours. So as you make these really hard choices and as you shape the film, you wish people could see it and that's what will be great about the DVD, because there will be a lot on there!" 

TheArnoldFans: Do you like to put yourself in your films?

David Ayer: No. I like to stay behind the camera. I don't want to have to yell at myself for screwing up on camera.

TheArnoldFans: What are your top three Arnold movies?

David Ayer: "Terminator, Predator and Total Recall." 

TheArnoldFans: With how violent and graphic Sabotage is, were you ever under any pressure to tone it down to try for a wider audience?

Man, it's great to be in a time again when there are multiple Arnold movies coming out in theaters each year! It feels like the 90s again, with Arnold showing up on talk shows and entertainment media constantly to promote the next film. Even though The Last Stand and Escape Plan have not been blockbusters box-office wise, you can't say that Arnold is not taking risks and pushing himself with the films he's making. He's playing different kinds of roles than before that acknowledge his increasing age without being overly jokey about it. He's also choosing unique, talented directors to work with like Kim Jee-Woon, Mikael Hafstrom, and now David Ayer. Arnold has never been about playing it safe- and that is proven again with SABOTAGE.

Note: Don't worry, this is a spoiler-free review, except for some plot points known from the trailer. 

I thought Escape Plan's original title of The Tomb would've been much better and more distinctive, and the same holds true with the original title of SABOTAGE, which was BREACHER. That title works on several levels, as it is Arnold's character's name, John Breacher, and it fits well with the themes in the movie. The elite DEA team that John leads must do lots of physical breaching of buildings where the drug dealers are, and you could say there is also breaching of moral lines and breaching of trust happening amongst the team members. But alas, the studio once again went with the more generic term SABOTAGE, which, while cool sounding, has little to do with what actually happens in the film. 

But enough about the title-- how much did I like the movie? A LOT! I can say without hyperbole that this is the most realistically violent Arnold movie ever. Commando may have a higher body count, and Total Recall may have lots of cartoonish gore, but SABOTAGE will kick your ass with its gritty realism. It sounds like marketing cheese, but this really is unlike any Arnold movie you've seen before. It has shootouts and car chases that are just brutal and messy, and don't feel perfectly choreographed like your typical action movie. Innocent bystanders get taken out sometimes, as you would expect amidst such chases in public areas. The action is very satisfying, but it makes you flinch often because even though John's team are the best at what they do, they don't ever feel invincible or safe all the time. As you probably know, the basic plot is that John's team decides to steal a bunch of money from a drug cartel during the opening raid of one of the cartel's hideouts. Then members of the team start getting murdered in quite horrific ways. I won't spoil these, but there is an obscene amount of blood and assorted body parts, so this is not for the squeamish! The rest of the movie involves an FBI agent played by Olivia Williams, trying to uncover both the truth about the missing drug money and who is responsible for the murders. Meanwhile, there are divisions growing amongst John's team as they start pointing fingers at each other, while John tries to keep them together and do his own investigating. 

Each of the actors playing John's team members give solid performances and bring out the unique attitude and qualities of the characters. They are comfortable enough with each other to treat each other like crap a lot, sometimes joking and sometimes more serious. Comparisons have been made to Dutch's group in Predator, and I'd say they don't feel quite as cohesive as that team, although part of that is the nature of this plot where they're suspecting each other, and part is I need to see the movie more times like I have with Predator. 

Arnold himself definitely brings his A game to this role. John Breacher is part Dutch, part Jericho Cane, and part John Matrix, but is pretty unqiue in that he is troubled and flawed. Like Arnold says in interviews, this is a movie showing lots of grey areas instead of everything being black and white, good and bad, and he plays that very believably. He still kicks lots of ass and commands respect as the heart of his team. There aren't the usual Arnold quips after kills in SABOTAGE, which lends better to the reailsm, but he does get in some glares, glances, and such as a subtle replacment for them, like when Sam Worthington's character asks John "We're not here to make arrests are we?" and John just gives a half smile and chuckles in response- it's a perfect Arnold moment, but not cheesy. He does have one line during an interrogation scene that got a huge laugh from the audience I was with in Columbus. Again, I won't spoil it, but you'll definitely get why it would especially appeal to people who just spent the weekend at the Arnold Sports Festival. 

Joe Manganiello is also great as Grinder. He has the physical presence and attitude to go toe-to-toe with Arnold believably, yet still defers and shows respect when Arnold pushes back. Joe is someone who I definitely won't mind seeing become the next big action star as the spiritual successor to Arnold- he has an air of ballsiness and confidence without seeming arrogant also, which is hard to pull off. Sam Worthington is also great as Monster- he also has some key moments with Arnold that are mostly quieter and lend well to his acting style. Mirelle Enos as Lizzy is fantastic, she definitely holds her own against all the men on the team, and plays her drug addiction convincingly-- she's mostly unlikable as a character, but that's what was called for, so she succeeds at this! Terrence Howard and Josh Holloway also do their thing well, albeit with more minor characters, but each gets their chance to shine. Really just solid actors all around, save more a couple of the bit roles.

The action is well executed, relying mostly on practical effects and very little CG that I could notice (as opposed to Expendables which is quite noticeable). There are some stretches in the middle act that are slower paced, but it didn't drag much, and makes the last act that much more impactful. A minor quibble is that it's pretty much all gunfights, with very little hand-to-hand combat to mix it up a little more, but that speaks again to the reality of this DEA/drug cartel world, they didn't shoehorn an epic hand-to-hand fight at the end like most action movies do. The other nitpick I have is that some aspects of the plot get a little confusing, figuring out who was working for who and for what reason, but that again will likely be made clearer with repeat viewings, and I very much look forward to seeing it several times during its hopefully LONG theatrical release! 

Now to give it a ranking next to other Arnold movies... this is tough because it really is a different kind of beast. It's very satisfying to watch, but not in your typical popcorn flick kind of way. The last scene is phenomenal and almost turns into a different kind of movie completely. My final verdict will have to wait until I see it more, but if pressed, I'd say this is a better movie than Last Stand and Escape Plan (both of which were good in their own right), but not at the level of the classics like Predator, Total Recall, and Terminator. Well worth seeing for any Arnold Fan or lover of gritty hard core action!

8 out of 10 stogies

Now a quick mini-review from Randy Jennings!

Thanks for the full review, Ryan! I'm glad you fully enjoyed it too. Because I'm working on some interviews, let me just throw in my super-quick review: LOVED IT!  In fact, I feel "Sabotage" is Arnold's best film in at least 18 years! Thank you, David Ayer for reinventing the Schwarzenegger action film. At times an Arnold film can be a little cheesy or light-hearted with the one-liners so it's so refreshing to see Arnold step into a new dark and gritty world. After seeing this serious film, with extreme violent realism and the best acting performance yet by the Austrian Oak, I can only hope he'll take permanent resident in this cinematic style for the majority of his future films. We've never seen an Arnold film character so humanized yet tough; he's constantly smoking stogies, he's dropping F-bombs left and right, he's barbecuing meat, at the strip joint, drinking and pumping iron in the gym... and if that wasn't manly enough, he's blowing away the villains with the loudest guns I've ever heard in a movie theater.

Sabotage breaks into my top 10 Schwarzenegger films. There's a lot of story and character set-up in the first half of the film but the second half is a wild ride and the ending is perfection. I can't wait to get back to the theaters this Friday! Who's with me?

8.5 out of 10 stogies for me!
– Randy Jennings

Last week at the SABOTAGE Los Angeles premiere, I met Grinder, played by Joe Manganiello at the after-party and then sat down with him on the following day for a one-on-one interview. If you missed our PART 1 interview with Joe (talking deleted scenes and WWE RAW), then click HERE! 

TheArnoldFans: I've heard a rumor that you might have a future film project in mind for Schwarzenegger. What's this film project and what can you say about Arnold's role?

Joe Manganiello: It's a movie called I Heart Pittsburgh. I'm not writing it; my really great friend and colleague named Gloria Calderon Kellett, who used to write for "How I met Your Mother," "Rules of Engagement" and "Devious Maids" and now she writes for "Mixology." She's a phenomenal writer who used to write for Cameron Crowe so I think she's like a female Cameron Crowe who writes for dudes and bros better than anyone I've ever met. She was on "How I Met your Mother" when I did the "Brunch For Bros" episode and I've done a bunch of plays with her and now she's writing a screenplay for me to direct called I Heart Pittsburgh and there's a role in it for Arnold. I haven't talked to him (Arnold) yet. I just want to get it all together before I go over there...but he and I talk about stuff all the time and we definitely want to work together again. 

**Arnold recently said that he'd like Joe to play one of Danny Devito's twin kids in Twins 2: Triplets. 

TheArnoldFans: How difficult was it to get Arnold to do the forward in your book EVOLUTION? Did you only have to ask once?

Manganiello: I got the book offer right when we started shooting (Sabotage), or the formal offer, and I was in the middle of formulating my outline and what I wanted to say in the book...so in the make-up trailer, I started up the conversation and I told Arnold about the book and what I wanted to do with it and he thought it was awesome and offered his help in any way. So that was pretty amazing to know I had that going in the process, that MY bodybuilding idol... the reason that I picked up a weight in the first place and started training was then going to co-sign my book. Because truly, I grew up with The Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and I grew up with Arnold's workout magazines and Weider mags and things like that, so to be able to then have his blessing allows my book to stand on the shoulders of  what he created. 

TheArnoldFans: Let me geek-out with you for a minute. First, what were your favorite toys as a kid or what do you still collect?

Manganiello: Well, as a kid it was Star Wars. I had everything Star Wars. Until G.I. Joe hit, then I had every G.I.Joe toy. But now, now I collect artwork and paintings. I had a painting commissioned recently of my wolf from True Blood. This oil painter painted this badass snarling wolf. It's a one of a kind oil painting that I have up over my desk. And I collect cigars.

TheArnoldFans: What were your two favorite comic book super heroes?

Manganiello: Growing up, my two favorite super heroes were Marshal Law and Colossus. 

TheArnoldFans: So if the studio comes to you now, you'd want to play these roles?

Manganiello: I want to do Marshal Law myself. I also wrote a story myself to reinvent the entire Colossus franchise. Reinvent and update the entire story line. They did one a few years ago; they did like an Ultimate Colossus that didn't really click with me and I have an idea. 

TheArnoldFans: What's Marshal Law?

Manganiello: Marshall Law is a really subversive odd and strange comic book that was released around 1987 and kind of flew very much under the radar. But I got ahold of it. I actually shop-lifted it when I was a kid and I went back 14 years later and paid for it. I break it out about every year and read it. It's about one of the best stories I've ever read.

TheArnoldFans: Cool, I hope these projects happen for you.

Joe Manganiello: Thanks man, yeah, we'll see!

TheArnoldFans: I see you with Arnold everywhere throughout this promotional tour. Is this something the studio asked you to do or is it just that you and Arnold click so well?

Manganiello: Whether if it's in the gym or it's writing a book or directing a documentary, I hit everything with all that I have. I think that Arnold and I come from similar backgrounds. There were a lot of people that told Arnold that he couldn't do it and that he was crazy for doing what he did. I certainly experienced a lot of that. People told me 'don't do this. You're making a mistake in your life' and 'you're crazy.' On a deeper level, Arnold is obviously involved in the arts and in bodybuilding and the two biggest things in my life have always been the athletics and the arts with acting. We're both philanthropic and try to give back and that's certainly something Arnold and I have done together whether it's the After-School All-Stars or handing out toys at the Christmas toy drive. We both try to make the world a better place and try to use our influence to help people and the kids, especially. Aside from that, we both like steaks. We both like cigars. All the things I do in my free time, Arnold does. We also both come from construction backgrounds. He used to run construction with Franco and I used to lay bricks and shovel sand and gravel. 

TheArnoldFans:  I was just out there in Venice. I had to go visit the wall that Arnold and Franco built.

TheArnoldFans: I saw Franco Columbu at the after-party. Have you met Franco before?

Manganiello: Oh yeah, well, he's part of Arnold's crew so yeah, I met Franco during shooting, no wait, maybe I met him afterwards at Arnold's holiday parties and get-togethers. And then we all went to the Arnold Classic together and Franco knows I have the Italian last name so he comes up and fucks with me and I fuck with him. That's just how Arnold's crew which is to outdo each other. That guy reminds me of Italian uncles that I have so there's a real sense of family that I have for Franco. When I was a kid, I had a poster of all the Mr. Olympias on the wall and the Art Zeller photos. So it was Arnold, Franco and Franck Zane and basically all the guys that I met at Joe Weider's memorial. You know, THAT's probably where I met Franco, at Joe's memorial. I was there at the table with Betty Weider and Lou Ferrigno, Terry Crews and Franco. That's where I met the whole gang for the first time. Arnold asked me to speak at Joe Weider's memorial on behalf of my generation of bodybuilding. That was a huge honor to sit at that table with Arnold, Lou, Franco, Terry Crews and have Frank Zane speak right before me. To be a part of those legends and then to carry that tradition on.

My speech really centered on the fact that my generation takes everything for granted. People were once told that bodybuilding was going to hurt them. Athletes were advised not to bodybuild, which is absurd to think about but these guys really took something which was considered a freak show with dirty basements. I remember Arnold telling me stories about Andy Warhol and they both got along because they were both looked at as freaks. But in today's world, that is not the case. Fitness is the mainstream now. It is the norm. People who don't work out...that's weird now. 

Stick around for our final PART 3 interview with Joe when we talk stogies, humidors, Arnold rings, True Blood, Robert Patrick and more! See Joe with Arnold in Sabotage playing NOW in theaters!

Here's a news story that has NOTHING to do with Arnold so why am I about to share with you this Transformers exclusive interview with Titus Welliver? Well, for one I'm a big fan of the Transformers cartoon series and had nearly a hundred Hasbro Generation 1-3 toys. Second, Welliver is a big Arnold fan who insisted on attending the red carpet premiere of Sabotage! Before I asked Titus about his three favorite Arnold movies while on the red carpet, I wanted to hear about his upcoming June 27th film, Transformers: Age of Extinction. Titus Welliver plays Savoy, the lead human villain in the 4th Transformers film by Michael Bay.

TheArnoldFans: What can you tell me about your role in the upcoming Transformers? 

Titus Welliver: I basically play the shark, like the shark of JAWS. I play this (Navy) Seal who has been tasked with eradicating the world of Transformers. Since the battle in Chicago in the previous film, they've now become outlawed so i'm in charge of a group of guys who are doing that.

TheArnoldFans: Were you familiar at all with the Transformers universe when you cam on the project?

Titus Welliver: Very much so. I have three children and they were actually my encyclopedia for that. I watched all the films but any questions that I had, I just talked to my 14 year old, and my 12 and 8 year old.

TheArnoldFans: Do your kids have the toys too?

Titus Welliver: Yeah, they have the toys. Michael Bay had a conversation with my 12 year old and then Michael came back to me afterwards and he said, 'I just had a conversation with your son and he might know a little bit more about these films than I do, and I made them." So I had a great source with m kids. 

TheArnoldFans: What are your top three Arnold movies?

Titus Welliver: Predator, Terminator 1 and Terminator 2.

So there you have it, a story that has practically nothing to do with Arnold's universe! But hey, it's an exclusive and Titus was super cool. He probably would have joined me with a chorus of Stan Bush's "You've Got the Touch" also but I could tell he was anxious to get inside to see Arnold's SABOTAGE! There, I tied it back into some Arnold news for you!

SABOTAGE just came out (see it NOW if you haven't yet!) and we can already get pumped for Arnold's next role in EXPENDABLES 3! Lionsgate just launched a full website that gives us a glimpse of Trench Mauser toting a BIG gun and a new quip: "Eenie... meenie... miney... moe!" We also find out about the other characters, old and new, and get a glimpse of the plot.

In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables — but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.

There's also a new "roll-call" trailer that doesn't go into plot, but gives us a quick shot of each character to the rockin' Billy Squier 80's tune "The Stroke."

Considering the big upset with the Sabotage box office results, many fans are worried over Schwarzenegger’s future in film and especially concerned about the fate of King Conan. Twins director, Ivan Reitman, told the press recently that there is that script to Twins 2: Triplets, however, Universal Studios isn’t showing much enthusiasm for this project.  But it’s not just Universal who’s not very interested, even Schwarzenegger fans just want the classic ‘80’s comedy left alone. Whenever we say “Triplets is coming" on Facebook or our message board, fans cry out with disgust or in worst case, mediocre acceptance. “NO, we want King Conan.” Is the usual response.

I know what you’re thinking: has Universal Pictures also lost interest in King Conan? On the contrary; with the odds that Twins 2 will not be greenlit and with major enthusiasm from the movie studio and producers for another Conan adventure, King Conan will most likely immediately follow Terminator: Genesis!

 “The co-president over there at Universal Pictures is Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, and he’s one of the top two executive producers,” Conan producer Fredrick Malmberg tells TheArnoldFans. “He has a huge position there at Universal, and he’s always been a huge Conan fan. ‘I want to make Conan,’ he’s said many times.”

King Conan's scriptwriter also tells us about the building excitement from within the studio.

“I have a fantastic team of producers around me and we are all ridiculously excited about how our beloved barbarian is developing,” Andrea Berloff tells TheArnoldFans.

Now In the final stages of the Conan script, Malmberg tells us they have a great story.

“We have a great story,“Malmberg begins. “Everyone loves it. This is a role that's perfect for him (Arnold) and he's very involved with the whole Universal team. It's the best team they have. Arnold has been very instrumental to being this together saying, 'We gotta make a good Conan!' I think if we do this right, we can do two more Conan movies right after. I think Game of Thrones also shows a huge interest in fantasy. I'm psyched about it.”

Andrea Berloff is just days away from finishing the final script.

“I am completely thrilled and honored to be writing Conan, says Berloff. “My fingers are nearly worn down to tiny, bloody nubbins as I'm working to give this iconic character new life, while still holding true to the qualities that made fans fall in love with him in the first place.”

At the Sabotage After-Party, I spoke to Franco Columbu who tells us again that he still wants a part with Arnold in King Conan. And yes, I’m still calling it King Conan even though the working title is “The Legend of Conan". Considering Arnold is still calling it King Conan and because that’s the name the fans want, that’s what I’m sticking with.

It is too early to say if Sabotage will ever turn a profit. Although The Last Stand and Escape Plan did not do great box office numbers here in the U.S., they did eventually make money after their full worldwide release.  Escape Plan doubled its budget in the long-run. Arnold’s movies do VERY WELL overseas. In fact, Arnie is not only surviving via worldwide sales; he's thriving. His Ulmer Scale rating? A whopping 98, which means that film financiers stand a 98 percent chance of recouping their investment in worldwide upfront sales before a single frame of a movie is even shot.

Universal Pictures is smart enough to know Conan is a franchise event film with worldwide appeal, not just a generic action hero. Conan is legendary.

Can you just imagine Arnold’s triumphant comeback with The Expendables 3, Maggie (a zombie film), Terminator 5 and King Conan! Now that’s what you call being “BACK”!  

While "Sabotage" might be chasing away general audiences domestically due to extreme violence or critics with low-foreheads,  the film has yet to hit many international territories for release. If you haven't already seen this fantastic film, get ready for big action and a terrific cast. There aren't too many females in Sabotage but the ones who are in it, are some of the better characters (next to Arnold, of course)! One great female lead is the police crime-fighter Caroline, played by Olivia Williams. Surprisingly, most of the well-played humor comes from the funny banter between her and her partner Jackson, played by Harold Perrineau, who are both on the case to solve murder's surrounding Arnold's character.


On the red carpet I interviewed Olivia Williams. So follow me, get your guns, move! "Stack up" and prepare to BREACH!

TheArnoldFans: What was the best part about working with Arnold?

Olivia Williams: "The fact that a former Mr. Universe admired my  intercostal muscles, I'd have to say that was my proudest moment."

TheArnoldFans: What sort of training did you do for this role?

Olivia Williams: "I did some ride alongs with the Atlanta Police Department because my character is in the police department. I'm not in the DEA (with Arnold's crew). So I did see some dark sides of downtown Atlanta. And I did some shooting training and I have to say that I held my own on the shooting range. I also had some hand-to-hand combat training."

TheArnoldFans: How do you deal with all the violence from a David Ayer movie?

Olivia Williams: "I was interested in this movie because I'm interested in the war on drugs and weather or not it works. I read a script that was extreamily interesting about DEA corruption and it dealt with things in the present situation and that's how I justified it to myself."

I also had the opportunity to speak with Sabotage producer Bill Block. Bill told me that he was amazed how Arnold got into the water repeatedly while filming a deleted alternate ending. We have some deleted shots below showing Arnold still wet after he emerges from the lake. Bill told me he was amazed how Schwarzenegger never complained and just walked right down into this cold lake water over and over during a 2am or 3am shoot. Bill added that Arnold showed strong leadership. I also asked this "District 9" producer if there will be a sequel and he sounded optimistic. We're all hoping Arnold gets a lead role in this sci-fi epic sequel. Would that be called "District 10" or "District Numero Uno"?

Today I was in communication with T1-T3 make-up department head Jeff Dawn, who tells TheArnoldFans to whom he's passing the Terminator torch. Dawn applied the most memorable and iconic endo facial appliances onto Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first three films. Dawn will not be coming back to the franchise but he does wish the crew the very best. He even spoke with the NEW head of make-up and gave her some possible Terminator tips.

"Randy, the make-up dept head on Terminator will be Lisa Love. She's a Canadian make-up artist that I know. I've been speaking with her, giving her my pearls of wisdom."

Lisa Love is an Emmy winner and several of her biggest past films as the make-up head includes Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: The Last Stand and Final Destination. Jeff also tells me that Lisa Love lived in Vancouver, BC for much of her life but may now be living in LA. But we're sure she'll be residing in New Orleans for the next several months during Terminator: Genesis filming.

John Rosengrant, who worked on the Endoskeleton robots in T1-T4 tells TheArnoldFans.com that "it’s a DONE DEAL" with the studio for his return. There you have it: Lead Make-Up handled by Lisa Love and Cyberdyne's most deadly endos handled by John Rosengrant's Legacy Effects team!

In other Terminator news, I spoke with TWO Terminator composers and they BOTH want to be BACK!

First I spoke with T3 composer Marco Beltrami, who tells me he'd like to come back to the Terminator franchise and do the soundtrack for Genesis. Personally I love what Marco did on T3 and loathe the Danny Elfman T4 abomination. No disrespect to Brad Fidel (Terminator legend) but he has long been retired and has gotten rusty while Marco has some fantastic films under his composer belt including Hell Boy, World War Z, Wolverine, I Robot and the second best Die Hard film: Live Free or Die Hard!

I also heard from "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles" composer Bear McCreary today via Twitter. "I would love to," Bear tells TheArnoldFans after I asked him if he would like to score T5 for Arnold. McCreary's other credits include the music for The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica and Agents of Shield.

Who would have ever imagined we'd be lucky enough to see the day when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford would star in the same movie?! If that's not already unbelievable enough, it gets even more incredible knowing Stallone, Mel Gibson, Statham and Wesley Snipes will also be kicking ass in the same film along with these legends. "Expendables 3" will no doubt be an event film that EVERY action hero fan will need to see on opening weekend. We can't say what will be bigger, the worldwide box office or the star power. Either way, this will be a big win for the fans. I know, the release date of August 15th will be a long wait, but here's a nice tease: our friends at Lionsgate sent TheArnoldFans this exclusive photo of Arnold and Harrison on the set with director Patrick Hughes.
(Click on image for a BIG version)

Director Patrick Hughes (left), Arnold Schwarzenegger (center) and Harrison Ford (right) on the set of THE EXPENDABLES 3. Photo Credit: Phil Bray

Before we go, we trust you've all seen that new "Expendables 3" Arnold poster, but just in case you missed it, here it is again! Go on, admit Arnold is a badass! Don't forget to wear your "Arnold Is Numero Uno" shirts when "Expendables 3" is out on August 15th, 2014!

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