Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were box office rivals throughout the 1980s as they battled for supremacy in cinemas and fought over the title of who could be definitively named as the world’s favorite action icon. Of course, the debate is entirely down to personal preference and a quick glance at their back catalogues has them pretty evenly matched, and they’re showing no signs on giving up on the genre, either, even though both men are well into their 70s.
Having overcome their professional rivalry to become close friends, you’re more likely to see Schwarzenegger trolling Stallone these days than actively manipulating him to star in terrible movies. The duo featured together in three Expendables films, but only in the underrated Escape Plan did we get to see them headline a genuine two-hander that had the legendary action heroes share top billing.
Of course, Schwarzenegger has proven to be more adept at comedy than Stallone over the years, but a terrifying new deepfake video imagines the big Austrian and the Rocky star replacing Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in Adam McKay’s beloved Step Brothers. And honestly, the footage should be shown in courtrooms around the world as an example of why the technology is so potentially dangerous, because Stallone pasted onto Reilly’s face in particular is the stuff of nightmares.
That being said, back in their heyday, there definitely would have been a huge audience willing to part with their hard earned cash to see Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone share the screen in a straightforward comedy, but based on this deepfake, let’s hope nobody gets any ideas about hiring them for a remake of Step Brothers.