Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Played Mr Freeze In Batman & Robin

A very generous deal is what convinced Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign on to play Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin. Following the huge box-office success of 1995’s Batman Forever, it was a given a sequel would happen. It was rushed into production, but despite setbacks like Val Kilmer abruptly dropping out and being replaced by George Clooney, it seemed to be on course to be another blockbuster.

Of course, 1997’s Batman & Robin is now considered not only one of the worst comic book movies ever, but one of the worst films ever made period. The sequel is a garish nightmare of hammy overacting, terrible dialogue and unengaging action. Given the current comic book movie landscape, it’s incredible to look back on Batman & Robin and see just how bizarre it is – though it’s drawn something of a cult following for this very reason. Despite plans for a darker sequel dubbed Batman Unchained, Warner Bros. put the franchise on ice before later rebooting it with Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

Speaking of ice, one of Batman & Robin’s most infamous elements was Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Just a few years previously, Batman: The Animated Series “Heart Of Ice” had reinvented the character with a new tragic backstory, and helped make him one of the Dark Knight’s most compelling villains. Batman & Robin instead had Arnold spouting endless ice puns and donning a ridiculous-looking costume. Arnie’s casting as Mr. Freeze followed in the Batman franchise formula of casting a bigger name for the bad guy, and there were few movie stars bigger than Schwarzenegger at that time. Of course, the money involved is a big reason why he signed on.

For gamely utterly so many bad Mr. Freeze puns, Arnie earned $25 million for Batman & Robin. According to a THR retrospective, when breaking down how long he actually spent on the set, that works out to a $1 million per day of filming for the star. He also had a twelve-hour workday policy built into his contract, which when combined with his time spent in the make-up chair and getting suited up, limited how long the filmmakers could shoot with him.

In contrast to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cool salary, Batman/Bruce Wayne himself George Clooney “only” received $1 million for his services. Clooney has made his distaste for the sequel known over the years but also credits the experience with changing his career. In his mind, he went from a jobbing actor accepting gigs to somebody who had to pick projects that actually spoke to him. Batman & Robin was a defining moment for Clooney, the franchise and comic book movies in general, and despite the frosty reception, Arnie has stated he has no regrets about signing on as Mr. Freeze.

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3484 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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