Arnold Schwarzenegger is 72 and his fellow action star Sylvester Stallone is 73. Over the years the pair have been friends, appeared in movies together, and competed with each other constantly.
Age has not dampened that competitive fire, either. Schwarzenegger made that much clear in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote Terminator: Dark Fate. Apparently the Stallone comedy clunker Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot remains a bone of contention.
Schwarzenegger and Kimmel discussed Dark Fate and evacuating for the wildfires raking Southern California (Schwarzenegger: “That’s nothing for an action hero, come on!”). They also talked about the Austrian Oak’s new son-in-law, Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, whom the Governator said is “a strong guy” and who won him over by knowing his way around the gym.
But the comment that started it all with Stallone again was Schwarzenegger’s description of how he essentially pranked his action rival into doing a really shitty movie.
I read the script [for Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, and it was a piece of shit. Let’s be honest. I say to myself, I’m not going to do this movie…Then they went to Sly, and Sly called me, have they ever talked to you about doing this movie?
And I said, yes, I was thinking about doing it. This is a really brilliant idea, this movie. When he heard that, because he was in competition, he said, ‘Whatever it takes, I’ll do the movie.’ And of course the movie went major into the toilet.
Okay, that’s pretty funny. Stallone, however, felt compelled to respond.
“Stop Or Your Grandmother Will Beat Your Ass.”
— A tribute to @Schwarzenegger https://t.co/KM0qLvJFM9 @jimmykimmel @JimmyKimmelLive pic.twitter.com/QnmeCaMX3g— Sylvester Stallone (@TheSlyStallone) October 30, 2019
He said he’ll write (and snarked at Schwarzenegger for perhaps not being the most literary guy around) and produce the movie “Stop Or Your Grandmother Will Beat Your Ass.”
His inspiration was Schwarzenegger’s appearance on Kimmel, he said, and how the former bodybuilding champ bragged that he “tricked” Stallone into doing the “worst movie ever made.”
“You keep punching, big guy,” the Rocky star concluded, “and good luck with your film.”
The tough guys have been in movies together and appear to have a genuine friendship, but it also seemed like there was a slightly bitter edge to Stallone’s reply.
Sometimes it really is like the 1980s never truly ended, after all.