Terry Crews' First Movie Role Was In This Arnold Schwarzenegger Sci-Fi Flop
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Terry Crews is known for many things. The muscle-bound actor has been in everything from the hit sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" to big action movies like the "Expendables" franchise, and he even flexed his comedy chops as President Camacho in the cult favorite "Idiocracy." For all the success that Crews has enjoyed in Hollywood, though, his career got off to a bumpy start. Specifically, his first movie — the 2000 sci-fi action flick "The 6th Day" — was a massive flop.
The film takes place in a near future setting where cattle, fish, and other animals can be cloned. Human cloning, however, is illegal, which is why Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is shocked to arrive home one day and discover that a clone has replaced him. He must then save himself from the assassins seeking to destroy him in order to protect their secret.
On the one hand, "The 6th Day" had a lot going for it on paper. Schwarzenegger was coming off a massive string of hits in the 1980s and '90s when he starred in the film, having made as much as $25 million per movie in his heyday. But starting in the 21st century, the hits were no longer as surefire — or big — as they once were for the "Terminator" star. Behind the camera, meanwhile, was Roger Spottiswoode, who was coming off directing the James Bond movie "Tomorrow Never Dies."
The movie's cast also included the likes of Robert Duvall ("The Godfather") and Michael Rooker ("Days of Thunder"), with Crews co-starring as Vincent, an assassin who works for a shady CEO named Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn). What could go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out. "The 6th Day" generally earned unfavorable reviews, resulting in a sizable box office bomb for Sony Pictures.
Terry Crews went on to have a prolific career
Schwarzenegger may have hoped that "The 6th Day" would reinvent him as an actor, but that didn't pan out. The film made just $96 million at the box office in its original run against a very large $82 million budget. In 2002, Variety reported that the film eventually grossed $116 million, but Schwarzenegger still left his agents at William Morris Agency. It wasn't long before he temporarily departed Hollywood altogether, for a time anyway, to become Governor of California.
All the same, Scwarzenegger was still paid $25 million for his participation in "The 6th Day." The same most certainly couldn't be said for Crews (or anyone else in the cast for that matter). For an up-and-coming actor, starring in a movie with one of the biggest stars in the world is a big break. When it doesn't work out, it can be tough. Fortunately, it was but a small bump in the road for Crews, who would go on to enjoy a long, fruitful career.
Crews now has over 100 acting credits to his name spanning 25 years. On the movie side, he's starred in films like "White Chicks," "The Longest Yard," "Get Smart," "Scary Movie 5," "Sorry to Bother You," "Deadpool 2," and "The Killer's Game." He's arguably had even more success on TV, playing Terry Jeffords in over 150 episodes (spread over eight seasons) of the beloved sitcom "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." Crews has also been in 80-plus episodes of "Are We There Yet?" and "Everybody Hates Chris," as well as a handful of episodes of "Arrested Development" and "The Newsroom." Needless to say, he's found his way just fine, despite kicking things off with a commercial misfire.