In an interview with Digital Spy, the veteran actor hinted at a return to the role of Ben Richards, the protagonist in the 1987 action classic The Running Man. While nothing is official at this point, Schwarzenegger included the film in a list of upcoming projects that are likely to bring him back to familiar territory.
“Harrison Ford was recently asked to get back to Star Wars, but it’s very rare to come back [after so many years],” he said. “There’s rumblings of a new Running Man movie, so it’s a great honor to be asked back.”
The original film, which was based on a novel of the same name by Stephen King (under the pen name Richard Bachman), cast Schwarzenegger as a police officer in a dystopian, urban future who’s framed for murder and forced to compete in a deadly, televised gladiatorial competition.
During the interview, the 67-year-old actor (and former governor of California) also touched on the physical aspect of returning to roles he played when he wasn’t as many years separated from his professional bodybuilding days.
“It comes back to bodybuilding, I’m used to doing cardiovascular training every day,” he explained. “Therefore I’m still in good shape, and I can do the action and have the energy to do these movies. They feel comfortable to ask me back and know that I can pull it off and do the stunts.”
His next film, Terminator: Genisys, hits theaters July 1, 2015.
