Arnold Schwarzenegger Claims He's Finally Making Sequels To Three Of His Classic Movies

Here's the thing about being one of cinema's greatest living movie stars: It's never over until it's truly over. Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly knows a thing or two about that, having had a significant role in keeping the "Terminator" franchise going over the last decade or so. Now, the former governor of California is claiming that there's plans to move forward with a trio of his most classic movies from his '80s heyday. How likely is any of this to actually happen? Your guess is as good as ours, but the fact that he's already open to talking about it suggests he's feeling awfully bullish.

The news comes courtesy of the Schwarzenegger fan site TheArnoldFans, which reports several quotes from the man himself during this past weekend's Arnold Sports Festival held annually in Columbus, Ohio. According to the actor, he's been told about no less than three projects in development that would bring back several of his most famous properties to the big screen: "Predator," "Commando," and "Conan." Here's what he had to say:

"They did an additional 'Predator,' and the director [Dan Trachtenberg] has been doing a great job of that. Now, he wants me to be in the next 'Predator.' We've talked about it. As a matter of fact, [Twentieth Century] Fox studios has kind of rediscovered Arnold. They've come to me and said, 'We want you to do 'Predator,' we just got a script for you to do 'Commando 2.'"

As if that wasn't remarkable enough on its own, Schwarzenegger went on to drop some serious news regarding a possible "Conan" sequel: "They just hired a fantastic writer/director who did Tom Cruise's last four movies. They just hired him [Christopher McQuarrie] to write and direct King Conan." That's ... a lot, so let's break it all down below.

It's one thing for Arnold Schwarzenegger to be willing and able to reprise several roles that helped turn him into a bona fide action star to begin with — it's quite another to claim that there's actual traction behind the scenes to turn these sequels into reality. To be fair, speculation has run rampant for years about Schwarzenegger's possible return to the "Predator," "Commando," and "Conan" franchises. But there's actually reason to believe that there's fire behind all this smoke, at least to a certain extent.

First and most obviously, "Predator" has already laid the groundwork for Schwarzenegger to return with "Predator: Killer of Killers." It makes perfect sense that new franchise architect Dan Trachtenberg has already spoken to the star about a possible return down the line, though it remains to be seen exactly how this would unfold. More surprising is the news about a sequel to "Commando," the 1985 shoot-em-up action movie. Rumors of a continuation of sorts have swirled for quite some time, but this is the first concrete update we've received in years. As for "Conan," it's quite a surprise to hear that "Mission: Impossible" writer/director Christopher McQuarrie is apparently in charge of a "King Conan" film, which is the first we've heard about this hiring whatsoever. For decades, Schwarzenegger has been vocal about wanting to make this "Conan" movie, which would serve as a follow-up film to both his "Conan the Barbarian" and "Conan the Destroyer."

Is this finally the time for the world to catch Schwarzenegger fever all over again? It remains to be seen whether this trio of projects actually makes it over the finish line. But if anyone can will them into existence, it's Arnold.