Movies: Arnold redux

Despite the presence of hot stars like Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale, "Total Recall" isn't a sure bet at the box office when it hits theaters Friday. It's part of a genre that hasn't done well lately: the Arnold Schwarzenegger remake.

On paper, reworking an Arnold movie probably sounds easy. His old blockbusters had in-your-face concepts (a robot from the future!) and durable scripts from pulpmasters like Oliver Stone and Steven E. de Souza. Wrong. The past several Arnold redos have been re-don'ts. We can start with 2009's "Terminator Salvation," in which Christian Bale and Sam Worthington competed to see who could show less emotion. In "Predators" (2010), Arnold was replaced by the slender Adrien Brody, who appeared to weigh less than his machine gun. Last year's remake of "Conan" flopped, with just $21 million in ticket sales.

Hmm, what's the missing ingredient in these movies? That's right: Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Somebody finally figured that out; Arnold himself is set to star in a sequel to his 1988 hit comedy, "Twins," with Danny DeVito. (Eddie Murphy may play their brother; the working title is "Triplets.") The upcoming action flick "The Expendables 2" gives Arnold a more active role than the original. And last year, the Governator revealed that he was considering revisiting 15 of his old movies.

That may or may not be good news. Are we talking about another "True Lies"? Or another "Kindergarten Cop"?