Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the biggest names in action cinema, revealed unprecedented details about his old and intense rivalry with Sylvester Stallone. The statements came to light from the documentary “Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons” (2024), and the details were widely publicized on August 19, 2026.
The dynamics of this behind-the-scenes competition was explored by Schwarzenegger in the Fox documentary. According to the artist, both monitored each other’s productions and sought to surpass their rival in each new cinematographic release.
“We were in productions like ‘The Future Avenger’ and ‘The Survivor’, science fiction films”, reported the actor. He added that, regardless of the genres explored by each one, the competitive mentality was constant: “You killed 28 people in your film, but I killed 32 in mine”, confessed Schwarzenegger about their rivalry.
The dispute was not just limited to the screen, extending to the physical form. “If his body fat percentage reached 7%, I would dedicate myself to reaching 10%”, described Schwarzenegger, indicating an obsession with overcoming each other in terms of physique. The actor also mentioned that Stallone started using bigger machine guns, forcing him to pursue the same.
This fictional arms race also escalated, according to Schwarzenegger, who joked: “Then he killed 80 people in the next movie, and I had to kill 87.” The speech highlights the competitive spirit that drove the two icons of action cinema.
