Producer Dino De Laurentiis' initial vision of the film's hero Douglas Quail/Carl Hauser was decidedly more in line with Philip K. Dick's short story: A schlubby office drone who dreams of a more exciting life. With this characterization in mind, his first choice for the part was Richard Dreyfuss. Over time, the desired machismo of the film's leading man increased, prompting suggestions like William Hurt (courtesy of David Cronenberg who was originally set to direct) and Patrick Swayze. Despite the gradual growth of Quaid's imagined virility, there was a limit to how far De Laurentiis was willing to stray from the original character. He insisted that someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger was out of the question for the part and even turned down Terminator (1984) star when Schwarzenegger first expressed interest in the role. Arnold really wanted the role though. He saw an opportunity when De Laurentiis' production company, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, went bankrupt. The actor convinced Carolco Pictures, with whom he had recently worked on Danko (1988), to purchase the rights to Total Recall. The coveted role of Quaid was not the only thing Schwarzenegger won in the transaction: In addition to being welcome to recruit the director of his choice (as a big fan of RoboCop (1987), he picked Paul Verhoeven), Schwarzenegger maintained authority over all creative aspects of the film, script, production, and even elements of distribution.

Film

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