Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito worked together for the first time in the 1988 comedy Twins, directed by Ivan Reitman. Schwarzenegger starred as Julius Benedict, who finds out later in life that he has a twin brother. After tracking him down, Julius discovers that his brother, Vincent (played by DeVito), is a con man who looks nothing like him. The two then embark on a journey to find their long-lost mother and, in the process, learn that they were part of a genetic experiment in which Julius ended up with “all the purity and strength,” while Vincent got “all the crap that was left over.”

The film was a big hit, so much so that Schwarzenegger later revealed that he made more money from it than any other movie he was in. With a project that successful, it only makes sense that a sequel would be explored at some point, and sure enough, in 2012, it was announced that one was in the works. The follow-up was going to be called Triplets and would have reunited Schwarzenegger and DeVito, while bringing on Eddie Murphy as their third brother. Schwarzenegger pitched the idea to Murphy himself, and while Murphy was initially confused about how he could play their brother when he was significantly younger, Schwarzenegger assured him that they would “work it out.”

The film lingered in development hell for a while, but Schwarzenegger told Howard Stern in 2019 that Murphy was still attached and would be “absolutely hilarious” in it. Book of Mormon star Josh Gad had apparently written a script for the sequel, but Reitman, who was also supposed to be returning as a producer, was dragging his feet a bit by then. However, by 2021, Murphy dropped out, and Reitman told Deadline that Tracy Morgan would be taking his place. They even went to the trouble of rewriting the entire script to accommodate their newest addition.

Reitman passed away in 2022, and that, sadly, signaled the death knell for the long-gestating project. Although everyone else involved was eager to do it and they had the financing to get it made, Reitman’s son, Jason, ultimately put a hold on things, seemingly for good. Schwarzenegger said the younger Reitman never liked the idea, but that he and DeVito were still working on a reunion of some kind. It might not turn out to be the sequel we were promised, but as a consolation, here’s a video of the two of them reuniting for a State Farm commercial in 2024: