One of the most bizarre casting rumors of the past few years was Arnold Schwarzenegger being added to The Toxic Avenger, the remake of Troma’s 1984 classic directed by founder Llyod Kaufman.

It seemed insanely improbable, until you realize Troma somehow got Darren Lynn Bousman to direct a remake of Mother’s Day, and that Schwarzenegger had agreed to take a role in the indie zombie film, Maggie.

Still, with all of Troma’s annoyingly aggressive PR, one had to wonder how true the story was (and could still be?).

Back in December we missed this blurb at WeGotThisCovered in which Lloyf Kaufman revealed to We that Schwarzenegger had exited the project due to, well, seeing the movies.

“Well no, he unsigned. He signed and apparently unsigned. I’m not sure what went down, I’m not really privi’ed, but yes, it was announced in every newspaper, there are photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger holding up a poster of The Toxic Avenger. From what I understood, he got a better deal and had his fingers crossed.”

Then, back in March, Kaufman had no positive updates as he told Movieweb, that while Steve Pink is still directing, Schwarzenegger was still “unsigned.”

“Steve Pink has written a script, and he is directing, and they did sign Arnold Schwarzenegger! But then Arnold Schwarzenegger must have seen the original, and he unsigned. That’s all I know about that.”

But, when Total Film followed up on this, Schwarzenegger didn’t deny his involvement at all. In fact, what he says sort of sounds like he’s still “in talks”. No?

“I cannot talk about this project because it has not yet been totally approved.”

It was explained initially that the new version would be loosely based on Kaufman’s 1984 classic Troma franchise, a high-school kid who gets dunked in a vat of toxic waste by a corrupt chemical company. He survives the ordeal with one major side effect: Upon contact with toxic chemicals, he transforms into a monster with superhuman strength.

Schwarzenegger would play “the Exterminator,” a former black ops agent, who trains Toxie to use his powers for good. Together they take on the lurking menace created by the polluters and the polluters themselves.

Article updated 3:30PM CST