While the accountants in Hollywood spend Monday morning figuring out which movie came out on top in a tightly fought, though overall lukewarm weekend at the box office, no matter how it plays out, David Ayer will be happy. His latest cops-in-Los-Angeles flick "End Of Watch" took home decent notices, and was one of three angling for the #1 slot. And with his next cop movie "Breacher" gearing up to shoot in October, it already has a quote-worthy endorsement from its star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
" 'Breacher,' especially, will be very like a new 'Predator,' " the governator told Empire. "It's a team around me and they get knocked off until there's only me left. Except in this case there will be a different twist to the whole thing instead of some alien monster."
In case you're still playing catchup, the Skip Woods ("Swordfish," "The A-Team") -penned story centers on an elite DEA task force who rob a drug cartel safe house, after which each member of the team starts getting taken down one by one. And a pretty massive bunch of players are coming along for the ride, with Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Dawn Olivieri, Malin Akerman, Olivia Williams, Mirielle Enos and Josh Holloway all nabbing roles. And it's that ensemble element that Arnie likes about this one.
"I think that 'Predator,' when I look back at it, was a very appealing kind of a movie. It was also good that I was not the only star of it. I mean, I was the star of it because at the end the focus goes to me, but you can let other people shine too – give them screen time and not be in every scene," he said. "So I think that’s what I like about 'Breacher' and the way it’s written. But it is a great character, an extremely interesting character and very well written. David Ayers is really talented."
Of course, the elephant in the room of any conversation with Arnie is Terminator, and what is happening (or not happening) with the much talked about "Terminator 5." And while there have been lots of rumors including a proposed two-movie plan and a return to its R-rated glory days, Schwarzenegger has no idea if he'll be back. "I think (producer) Megan Ellison owns the rights to 'Terminator 16,' or whatever it is," he shared. "They have been trying to put a script together but I've not seen it, so I've no idea. There's nothing on the drawing board at this point. Nothing on the plan."
Arnie's next big screen outing will be in "The Last Stand" on January 18th.