Arnold Schwarzenegger Scandal: The Impact on His Next Hollywood Projects

7:55 PM PDT 5/17/2011 by Tim Appelo

"Bill Clinton went through horrendous things, and now he’s regarded as one of the most popular presidents," says the producer of Schwarzenegger's next movie.

Producers of Arnold Schwarzenegger's upcoming Hollywood projects -- including one in which he plays an animated superhero with a double life he hides from his wife, Maria -- say that neither will be affected by the news of him fathering a child with his family’s housekeeper.

Since finishing his term as California governor in January, the one-time action star has been actively pursuing a return to showbiz. He voices the lead character in the upcoming animated series The Governator and is scheduled this summer to shoot the live-action drama Cry Macho, in which he plays an aging horse trainer -- a more ambitious role than some of his onscreen personas.

“It doesn’t affect this movie,” Cry Macho producer Albert Ruddy says of the unfolding Schwarzenegger scandal. “We’re shooting Aug. 24; we’re in serious preproduction now. It hasn’t affected our sales. It’s going to be interesting if we get even a bump on the foreign side. This is not gonna be a black eye for a guy with an astounding career.”