Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Governator,' 'Cry Macho,' 'Terminator' on Hold as He Halts Acting Career

3:44 PM PDT 5/19/2011 by Tim Appelo

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John M. Heller/Getty Images

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The news comes amid the unfolding scandal surrounding the child he fathered while married to now-estranged wife Maria Shriver.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is putting the brakes on his acting career in the wake of the unfolding scandal surrounding the child he fathered while married to Maria Shriver. The former California governor’s lawyer Patrick Knapp released a statement Thursday saying that Schwarzenegger will not be acting in the immediate future.

"At the request of Arnold Schwarzenegger, we asked Creative Artists Agency to inform all his motion picture projects currently underway or being negotiated to stop planning until further notice," the statement reads. "Gov. Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing to commit to any production schedules or timelines. This includes Cry Macho, the Terminator franchise and other projects under consideration. We will resume discussions when Gov. Schwarzenegger decides."

The immediate impact of the decision will be felt most by producers of Cry Macho, which is in pre-production and was to mark Schwarzenegger’s return to acting after years running California.

Cry Macho producer Albert Ruddy declined to comment beyond the statement issued by Schwarzenegger’s team. On Tuesday, he told THR that he was certain shooting would begin Aug. 24 despite the paternity scandal.

“I’ve seen scandal after scandal,” Ruddy said Tuesday, “and after a few months, nobody remembers it. It’s totally irrelevant. After Osama, who’s talking about Charlie Sheen? All you have to do in America is keep your mouth shut for a day or two."

Earlier Thursday, the producer of the animated series The Governator, starring Schwarzenegger as a superhero fighting crime in a lair secretly located beneath the Los Angeles home he shares with wife Maria, told THR that the scandal will not impact the show.

"The U.S. broadcaster has not pulled out," A2 CEO Andy Heyward said just hours before Schwarzenegger's announcement. "It will be announced June 14 at [the] Licensing Show, in Las Vegas. The series is fictional of course, and that's what we are focused on. Broadcast begins worldwide in September 2012."

Hours after Schwarzenegger's announcement, TMZ reported that a rep for the show said, "In light of recent events, A Squared Entertainment, POW, Stan Lee Comics and Archie Comics have chosen to not go forward with the Governator project."

Scwarzenegger’s other planned project, the proposed reboot of the Terminator franchise with Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures and director Justin Lin (Fast Five), is in the early stages of development.

Email: Tim.Appelo@thr.com