Clint Eastwood is the director and star of Cry Macho, but the lead was almost played by fellow iconic actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. When one thinks of the term macho, it’s quite possible Eastwood would be a person who quickly comes to mind. Eastwood spent much of his long career, especially the earlier decades, playing badass heroes or antiheroes in things like the Dirty Harry franchise, and the legendary Dollars Trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns.
Of course, the same could be said for Schwarzenegger, who’s known first and foremost as an action star, and has blown up just about every possible person, place, or thing onscreen. Whether he be playing an advanced cyborg in the Terminator franchise, a one-man army in Commando, a spy in True Lies, or a special ops soldier in Predator, Schwarzenegger is perhaps the “manliest” actor to ever work in Hollywood. Then again, as the name would imply, Cry Macho is far from a straightforward hero story.
Based on a 1975 novel of the same name by N. Richard Nash, and scheduled for release on September 17, 2021, Cry Macho will see Eastwood – now 91-years-old – direct and star as Mike Milo, a washed up rodeo star and horse breeder who finds himself being paid to escort a man’s son home from Mexico. Things get complicated when the job turns out to be harder than Mike ever thought, leading him on a journey to possible redemption and self-discovery.
It sounds like something Eastwood would make, but for almost a decade, Schwarzenegger was set to play Mike Milo instead.In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was given a choice between two upcoming film projects, a remake of Westworld or an adaptation of Cry Macho. A Westworld remake would of course later end up happening as an acclaimed HBO TV series, while the Austrian Oak chose Cry Macho.
The reason Schwarzenegger’s movie went unmade was because recall campaign to unseat Grey Davis as California governor ended up being successful, giving him bigger things to focus on.The decision was made to place the project on hold. In 2011, following the completion of Schwarzenegger’s terms as governor, Cry Macho was moving forward again, only to be derailed by a high-profile personal scandal involving the action icon.
Cry Macho‘s movie adaptation languished until the 2020 announcement that Clint Eastwood was taking over as both director and star. While it may seem odd that a 91-year-old man is assuming a role that’s not nearly that old in the book, Eastwood was actually attached back in his younger days, and almost starred as Mike Milo in the late-1980s, although it’s unclear if he planned to direct at that time. However, he ultimately opted out of the project in order to reprise one of his signature roles, “Dirty” Harry Callahan in The Dead Pool. So in that way, Cry Macho brought Eastwood’s career nearly full circle.