Selling the idea that ‘Sonja’ sold

In promising more jobs for California in his state of the state speech Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped a couple of bombs.

“If I can sell tickets to my movies like ‘Red Sonja’ and ‘Last Action Hero,’ ” he said, “you know I can sell anything.” It’s true that tickets were sold to both those movies, but if the final box office numbers are any indication, Californians waiting for jobs may want to start conserving their money and rent videos instead.

“Red Sonja,” which opened in 1985, a year after Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough role in the “The Terminator,” grossed only $6.9 million, less than a quarter of “Terminator’s” $38-million domestic take.

“Last Action Hero” (1993) followed the even bigger success of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” but grossed $50 million compared with “T2’s” $204 million. “Hero” was also notorious for the disparity between its gross and its $85-million budget, $15 million to $17 million of which was for Schwarzenegger’s salary.

In light of these figures, perhaps Schwarzenegger should consider calling up director James Cameron to serve on his staff. His films with Cameron, including the first two “Terminators,” are his biggest commercial and critical successes to date.

But Schwarzenegger may have qualms about the possibility of sending mixed political messages. With Cameron on board, he’d have little choice but to trumpet the $146-million success of “True Lies.”