Imperfect Pair

Recall that Universal managed to make “Twins” through a unique financial deal: Arnold Schwarzenneger, Danny DeVito and producer-director Ivan Reitman took no fee up front in exchange for 35% of film rentals--Arnold receiving 17 1/2%, Danny and Ivan splitting the other half.

Well, the film grossed $11.1 million during its opening weekend. With the studio recouping about 70%--or $7.7 million--as its rental share, the big guy should muscle about $1.3 million for just those three days, less studio deductions.

The Schwarzenneger-DeVito “Twins” pairing, by the way, isn’t all that novel.

Producer John Davis tried to get the physically antithetical stars together two years ago for “Urban Commandos,” a project written by Frank Capello. It had DeVito as head of an American household where a crime-fighting alien (Schwarzenneger’s role) takes sanctuary from intergalactic bad guys. DeVito discovers Arnie’s indestructible suit, donning it to battle sleazy criminals--not an easy fit.

“We came very close to making the film,” confirmed Davis, who’s still awork on the project. “But ultimately we were done in by the star salaries. Before we could come up with another deal, they were snatched up to do ‘Twins.’ ”