The 11 Highest Grossing Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies
20th Century Fox
One of the biggest and best-loved action stars of all time, Arnie has been thrilling cinema goers since the 1960’s! Here are the 11 highest grossing Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, adjusted for inflation…
11) Last Action Hero
A fun action comedy, Last Action Hero hit cinemas in 1993. When youngster Danny Madigan is given a magical ticket, he’s able to enter the fictional movie world of Jack Slater; his favourite action character, and must help Slater defeat the evil Benedict (Charles Dance).
Worldwide box office in 1993: $137,298,489
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $249,883,25
10) Terminator: Dark Fate
You can’t keep evil technology down. Decades after successfully stopping Skynet’s nuclear threat, the world faces a new danger and a new future saviour in this continuation of the Terminator franchise, which brings back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Arnie as a T800 who has chosen to settle down into regular family life.
Worldwide box office in 2019: $250,372,36
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $257,883,53
9) End of Days
The devil arrives in New York on New Year’s Eve 1999, and must have sex with a chosen girl, Christine, in order to unlock the gates to hell. Arnie plays Jericho, a private security guard who winds up having to protect her from Satan!
Worldwide box office in 1999: $212,026,975
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $335,002,621
8) Batman & Robin
In perhaps the most widely disliked entry in the entire Batman franchise, Arnie plays larger than life villain Mr Freeze. He delivers terrible ice-based pun after terrible ice-based pun as he steals diamonds to keep his cryogenic suit powered. But he’s not all evil – he’s only trying to find a cure for his wife’s MacGregor’s Syndrome.
Worldwide box office in 1997: $238,317,814
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $390,841,215
7) Eraser
When you enter the witness protection programme, John Kruger (played by Arnie) is the guy they send to kill off your past life to give you a clean slate. This 1996 thriller sees Arnie protecting whistleblower Vanessa L Williams from a dangerous corporation.
Worldwide box office in 1996: $234,400,000
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $393,792,00
6) Terminator: Genisys
The timeline you knew is totally overwritten in this new take on the Terminator story, which sees a young Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese trying to take down a dangerous AI. After an absence in Terminator Salvation (apart from a voiceless CGI lookalike), Arnie is back in his iconic role for this next installment, which hit cinemas in 2015.
Worldwide box office in 2015: $432,150,894
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $479,687,490
5) Twins
At number 5 in our list of highest grossing Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, we arrive at Twins. A scientific experiment where the DNA of six fathers is used to try to create the perfect human goes wrong when instead of one embryo being created, two are. One, Julius (Arnold Schwarzenegger), is tall and physically fit whilst his twin, Vincent (Danny Devito), is short and made of by-product from the experiment. The twins, separated at birth, find each other as adults.
Worldwide box office in 1988: $216,600,000
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $480,852,000
4) Total Recall
A favourite among Arnie fans, this sci fi action thriller sees Quaid visit a centre to have memories of a vacation to Mars implanted in his head. But when he starts having startling visions, he must visit the planet for real. Or is that just part of the memory he had implanted?
Worldwide box office in 1990: $261,400,000
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $525,414,000
3) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Skynet is up to its old tricks, and sends a new terminator, the T-X, back in time to kill John Connor and his future allies. Not to fear, though, as a T-800 is once again sent back to protect him. Meanwhile, the government is about to set Skynet live; not realising it will instantly launch all nuclear missiles worldwide, causing Judgment Day. Can John and the T-800 stop it from happening?
Worldwide box office in 2003: $433,058,296
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $619,273,363
2) True Lies
In this 1994 action comedy from James Cameron, Arnie plays Harry Tasker; a secret agent, tracking down nuclear missiles. But his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter know nothing about this, and think he’s a computer salesman. When he finds out his neglected wife is considering cheating on him, he has to save the world and his marriage.
Worldwide box office in 1994: $365,300,000
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $646,581,000
1) Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron created an action movie masterpiece with this 1991 sequel to The Terminator. Terminator 2: Judgment Day sees a liquid metal terminator sent back in time to assassinate a teenage John Connor. For the first time, we see Arnie play a good-intentioned T-800, sent back to protect John. After freeing Sarah Connor from an asylum, the trio prepare to stop Judgment Day for good.
Worldwide box office in 1991: $515,390,883
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $994,704,404
There you have it – the 11 highest grossing Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, adjusted for inflation!