The upcoming film Ten is described as a tense action thriller in which a group of DEA agents go rogue and decided to swipe millions of dollars in drug money from the agency. Everything goes according to plan, until the agents begin dying at the hands of an unknown assassin, forcing the remaining team members to fight for the money and their lives.
It’s being directed by David Ayer, based on a script by Skip Woods. Ayer you’d likely know best as the writer of 2001’s Training Day, while Woods is most notable for writing the 2010 A-Team movie. Most crucially however, the film is now set to star former California governor, T-800 and most notable action star of the past two decades, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This revelation comes courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, who claims that the film has lingered in limbo for the past few years. Previously, District 13: Ultimatum director Patrick Alessandrin was scheduled to helm the film, which, at the time, was slated to star Bruce Willis. For whatever reason that plan floundered. Schwarzenegger, looking to dive back into acting in a big way following his stint in politics (he’ll appear in The Expendables 2 this summer and is scheduled to star alongside Sylvester Stallone in The Tomb) has agreed to star in the film, which THR believes will fast track the flick into production.
Action movie fans will note that this is something of a departure from Schwarzenegger’s previous work. It’s almost guaranteed that he’ll still be shooting people and dropping witty one-liners, but the role is far more morally ambiguous than the unassailably upright heroes Schwarzenegger is most famous for. Given that the man is nearly 65-years-old, it seems he’s attempting to rely more on his acting abilities and undeniable charisma than the stunning physique and indestructible one-man-army image he cultivated throughout the 80s and early 90s.
It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Arnold can recapture his former box office glory, but it seems quite likely that his upcoming films will still pull in huge amounts of cash, if only by virtue of his legions of now-adult fans clamoring to once again see the man in action. Sure, he looked good in a suit, glad-handing lobbyists in Sacramento, but never does Schwarzenegger seem more at home than when he’s dual-wielding heavy machine guns and chomping a cigar.