Arnold Schwarzenegger Was The Driving Force Behind Total Recall Being Made

Total Recall is celebrating its 30th anniversary in a big way with a 4K UHD rerelease that includes brand-new special features. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays Quaid, a mild-mannered man who may or may not be a secret agent from Mars. And in one of the new featurettes, we learn that the reason this movie got made was because of its star.

As you can see in the video below, which is part of the special features for the new release of the film, more than 40 drafts were written for this movie. In 1989, Schwarzenegger had become a monumental star in Hollywood, coming off of Terminator, Predator, The Running Man, and Twins to name a few.

So at that point, Schwarzenegger had a lot of pull and pushed for the movie to get made. "What happened was that Arnold saw Robocop," explained director Paul Verhoeven. "And he had wanted to do Total Recall for years. He basically convinced [executive producer] Mario Kassar to buy that script."