Arnold Schwarzenegger Announces He's Reprising Three of His Most Iconic Action Roles
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced at the 2026 Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, that he is in active discussions to reprise his roles in three iconic franchises: Predator, Conan the Barbarian and Commando.
A fan-uploaded video on YouTube captured Schwarzenegger breaking the news to a crowd that erupted in applause.
The announcement was later confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, among other sources.
Schwarzenegger emphasized that the roles are being written age-appropriately rather than pretending he’s still in his prime physical years.
“They don’t write them like I’m 40 years old. You write it to be age appropriate. I’ll still go in there and kick some a** but it will be different,” he said of his Conan reboot.
The ‘Predator’ Return
Director Dan Trachtenberg, who has been helming recent entries in the Predator franchise, wants Schwarzenegger back for the next film in the series. Fox Studios has also approached him directly about returning.
“They did an additional ‘Predator’ and the director has been doing a great job of that. Now, he wants me to be in the next ‘Predator.’ We’ve talked about it,” Schwarzenegger told the crowd.
Schwarzenegger already made a soft return to the franchise in 2025, when his likeness was used for a cameo in Trachtenberg’s animated anthology film Predator: Killer of Killers.
His character, Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, appeared in a suspended animation chamber — setting up a potential live-action return.
Based on Schwarzenegger’s comments at the festival, conversations about a live-action role are now well underway.
‘Commando 2’ Already Has a Script
Fox Studios brought Schwarzenegger a script for Commando 2 as part of their broader outreach.
The original Commando is a 1985 action film directed by Mark L. Lester and produced by Joel Silver, following a retired Special Forces colonel who tries to save his daughter after she is abducted by his former subordinate.
“As a matter of fact, Fox Studios has kind of rediscovered Arnold. They’ve come to me and said, ‘We want you to do “Predator,” we just got a script for you to do “Commando 2,’” Schwarzenegger said.
The existence of a script suggests the Commando sequel may be further along in development than fans might have expected.
‘King Conan’ Has a Major Director Attached
Of the three projects, the Conan sequel — titled King Conan — appears the most developed.
A writer/director has been hired, described by Schwarzenegger as the person who directed Tom Cruise’s last four movies — strongly implying Christopher McQuarrie, the filmmaker behind the Mission: Impossible franchise.
Schwarzenegger laid out the film’s plot at the Expo.
“With ‘King Conan,’ it’s a great old story that Conan was 40 years as king and now he gets forced out of the kingdom and there’s conflict, of course, but somehow he comes back and there’s all kinds of madness, violence, magic and creatures and stuff like that,” he told the crowd.
“And now, of course, there’s all kinds of special effects. The studio has plenty of money to make those movies really big so I’m looking forward to all of those projects,” he added.
Schwarzenegger originally played Conan in Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984).
A 2011 reboot starring Jason Momoa flopped, earning only $63 million worldwide against a reported $90 million budget, according to Variety.
How Brutal the Original ‘Conan’ Was
The prospect of a return carries extra weight given Schwarzenegger’s own account of how physically punishing the original filming was.
In his 2023 memoir Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life, he detailed the brutal conditions on the set of the original Conan the Barbarian, directed by John Milius.
“I learned to ride horses and camels and elephants. I learned how to jump from large rocks, how to climb and swing from long ropes, how to fall from a height,” Schwarzenegger wrote in the memoir, per Insider.
“Milius had me doing all kinds of terrible s**t. I crawled through rocks, take after take, until my forearms bled. I ran from wild dogs that managed to catch me and pull me into a thorn bush. I bit a real dead vulture that required I wash my mouth out with alcohol after each take. (PETA would have a field day with that one). On one of the first days of filming, I tore a gash on my back that required 40 stitches,” he added.
BOTTOM LINE: While no production dates are set, the combination of studio backing, an existing script for Commando 2 and a major director attached to King Conan signals that Schwarzenegger’s return to the big screen across three franchises is a serious possibility — not just wishful thinking.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
