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Lionsgate promoted The Last Stand as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s big comeback following his departure as the Governor of California. The unique selling point was that a now aged action star is back on the big screen, shooting people. So audiences were bound to turn up just to see if he was still capable of firing a gun… right?

The Last Stand stemmed from first time screenwriter Andrew Knauer. Lionsgate optioned his spec script in November 2009, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing. The script also made it on the black list of popular unproduced screenplays the same year. In September 2010 it was announced that di Bonaventura had approached South Korean director Kim Jee-Woon to direct. Responsible for powerhouses such as A Bittersweet Life, The Good, The Bad, The Weird and I Saw The Devil, The Last Stand would be Jee-Woon’s first English language film. “It’s a simple story we’re telling and we wanted a director who makes the simple feel rich,” said di Bonaventura. “He does that in every movie.” Jee-Woon described his concept for the film as a mix of Die Hard and High Noon. The following month came the news that Liam Neeson was attached to star. Then in February 2011 Neeson dropped out. There didn’t seem to be any clear reason as to why.

Five months later in July 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger was officially confirmed to be in the starring role. The Last Stand would be Schwarzenegger’s first film in a lead role since leaving politics, and his first since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. That Terminator sequel earned $150 million at the US box office back in 2003. Surely the iconic Schwarzenegger was still a box office draw?

Sheriff Ray Owens (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a former LAPD officer who has resigned himself to working in the peaceful border town of Sommerton Junction. However, Owens is about to receive a wake up call on his day off after drug kingpin Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega) escapes from FBI agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker). Cortez is now racing to the border in a modified Corvette ZR1, intending to drive straight through to Mexico. The only thing standing in the way is Owens and his small team of officers.

There seem to be differing reports on the production budget for The Last Stand, though the figure cited the most is $30 million. Distributed by Lionsgate, the film opened on January 18, 2013. It made a new entry at #9 with an opening weekend gross of $6.2 million. According to Lionsgate, 22% of the audience that turned up were aged under 25 (and were probably wondering why a politician was in an action film). That same weekend the box office was led by Jessica Chastain with her new entry Mama at #1, as well as Zero Dark Thirty at #2. The Last Stand finished its run at the US box office earning just $12 million, making it Schwarzenegger’s lowest earning film in the US since… well… ever! As the film rolled out overseas, it seemed that audiences across the world weren’t that interested either, managing just $25.1 million. Its overall worldwide total came up to $37.1 million.

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