Was Arnold Schwarzenegger ever the number one star in Hollywood?

[King Static X]

Arnold was top dog for a decade ('84 to '94).

1984 - Terminator
1985 - Commando
1987 - Predator
1988 - Twins
1990 - Total Recall, Kindergarten Cop
1991 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day
1994 - True Lies

After 1994, his career declined and then he entered politics.

 

[Mr Clean]

Arnold had a generation of young men thinking all they had to do to make it in Hollywood was get swole not realizing this dude was bursting with a natural charisma, maybe moreso than The Rock

You could tell he was a star from Pumping Iron and that shyt was a documentary

Then there's the classics he was involved in. His run from Terminator through to Terminator 2 were the goats of that decade

Rock wishes he had his movie career.

Who out here going to watch a movie with just The Rock in it?

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

Arnold was the fukking man in his prime. When T2 dropped it was a wrap and no man could match him. The rock is a cool dude but he can never match the filmography and characters Arnold came with.

 

[BlackMajik]

The Rock's movie resume is absolute trash

 

[Dave24]

Arnold had a generation of young men thinking all they had to do to make it in Hollywood was get swole not realizing this dude was bursting with a natural charisma, maybe moreso than The Rock

You could tell he was a star from Pumping Iron and that shyt was a documentary

Then there's the classics he was involved in. His run from Terminator through to Terminator 2 were the goats of that decade

Rock wishes he had his movie career.

Who out here going to watch a movie with just The Rock in it?

In today world if you are in shape and have charisma can you be very succesful in hollywood?

 

[Mr Clean]

In today world if you are in shape and have charisma can you be very succesful in hollywood?

A lot of bodybuilders and would be bodybuilders thought they could follow in Arnold's footsteps. Get big, head out to Hollywood and someone will notice you. Lots of broken dreams out on Venice Beach

They're not checking big dudes nowadays. Matter of fact they get known actors to just bulk up. That shyt is over. Unless you're looking to be cast as a goon.

 

[Primetime]

I don't even think this is true, Rock been the #1 star and is competing with Vin Diesel, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and the fukking Avengers. The fact he's been #1 for any period when he's competing against Marvel, DC, Star Wars and other established juggernauts speaks volumes about how well he's done so far.

To be fair,

Rock joined Vin Diesel's franchise (FF) and Diesel himself struggles to sell movies that aren't FF, so competing with him isn't saying much.

The biggest FF movie (2015) grossed 1.5B, with the ensemble cast. Rock's spinoff with Statham and Idris did half of that. So he's not competing with the Avengers (the last 2 having grossed 2B and 2.8B apiece), or even the Star Wars trilogy despite interest dropping with each entry.

Also, Will Smith's era was pretty much 95-2008 (with a blip in 2012 if you count MiB3.. but by then the ship had sailed imo).

Denzel isn't a blockbuster action star. So it's really 50-something year old Tom Cruise recycling Mission Impossible movies.

That's not to say Rock hasn't done well for himself but that's a different argument. I mean, Robert Downey Jr has done well for himself as an action star

 

[Tony D'Amato]

Yes. Arnold was the biggest draw from the mid-late 80s to the early 90s. Raw deal, commando, predator, terminator, kindergarten cop, twins, terminator 2, Conan. True lies was the official end of the run and that’s 94

I don't think he was ever bigger than Stallone.

 

[KravenMorehead™]

The Rock is my nikka,

but as far as movies,

The Rock is to Arnold Scwarzenegger what Kevin Hart is to Eddie Murphy.

The era in general has alot to do with it more so that individual actors

I don't think previous eras were about dominance, just a lot of people putting out high level product at the same time. Sorta like Hip-Hop...

 

[OmegaK2099]

Scorpion King was supposed to be rocks Conan

 

[FreedMind]

I kind of wish Schwarzenegger would've starred in a Wes Anderson film.


I'm not high and this was a bad idea.

 

[Cynic]

I'm thinking about Dwayne Johnson's current run in Hollywood and how he has been the number one star in Hollywood for several years...

Was Arnold Schwarzenegger ever the undisputed number on star at any point in his career? When in the 80s-90s was he number one? He had to compete against Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, etc, etc for the number one spot.

How is Rock number one when Cruise and Leo are still alive ?

 

[MartyMcFly]

I don't think he was ever bigger than Stallone.

I’d check the box office numbers. I think he was but I could be wrong

 

[Ironman]

This wasn't even prime Ahnuld and this shyt still a classicThe Rocks my guy but he doesn't have these

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

I don't think he was ever bigger than Stallone.

Stallone never had a hit as big as T2.