Released in 2000, the sci-fi thriller The 6th Day cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as a charter pilot confronting his own illegal clone, with the film earning $96 million against an $82 million budget. The film earned a meager 40% on Rotten Tomatoes and four Razzie nominations.
The Bottom Line
- Box Office: The film grossed $96 million against an $82 million budget.
- Critical Backlash: Reviewers awarded it a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, targeting its uninspired sci-fi tropes.
- Razzie Infamy: Arnold Schwarzenegger received four Razzie nominations: Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor, and Worst Screen Couple for both characters.
A Sunset for the Austrian Oak in Science Fiction
For most of his career, Arnold Schwarzenegger was shooting up the screen or anyone who thought they were tough enough to take on the Austrian Oak. Many of those cinematic showdowns were set in futuristic worlds or involved facing off against sci-fi-themed threats that became highlights of his filmography. By the early aughts, the era felt like the sunset of Arnie’s action-movie era, and The 6th Day certainly signaled that. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, The 6th Day is set in the futuristic year of 2015, where animal cloning has been accepted into society. What hasn’t been given the go-ahead, however, is human cloning as part of “The Sixth Day” law, which gets broken when Arnie’s charter pilot, Adam Gibson, comes home one night to find a man who looks like him living his life. From there, it’s standard Schwarzenegger fare as Arnie blows up bad guys, including a repeatedly revived Michael Rooker, Tony Goldwyn in full sleaze mode as the brains behind the botched incident, and Robert Duvall as the conflicted scientist with a heart of gold. Yet, even with these names and what sounds like a compelling story, The 6th Day wasn’t worth marking on critics’ or audiences’ calendars after its release.
Critical Scorn and Box Office Mathematics
Critics called it out for borrowing story elements from better movies that had already been made, some of which were Schwarzenegger’s own. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said, “This movie plays like something picked up at a vintage store; you can see all the greasy fingerprints from those who have handled it before.” Desmond Ryan of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Rotten Tomatoes) also saw through the cracks, saying that “There’s no doubt that the formula for this kind of action film is showing its age.” Robert Cashill of Newsweek (via RT) was exceptionally harsh on the film, saying that “The studios should enact their own ‘6th Day Law’ prohibiting the carbon-copy duplication of elements from scenario to scenario.” Audiences didn’t have his back with The 6th Day, which earned $96 million against an $82 million budget.
The Razzie Accolades
The movie earned four Razzie nominations, with Arnie being nominated for both Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor for playing his doppelgänger, and Worst Screen Couple for both characters. Ultimately, this was a very bad day for Arnie and not even in an entertaining way.
| Metric | The 6th Day (2000) |
|---|---|
| Production Budget | $82 Million |
| Global Box Office | $96 Million |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 40% |
| Razzie Nominations | 4 |
