Sneak peek: Schwarzenegger cut in 'Sabotage'

Bryan Alexander | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Exclusive Trailer: 'Sabotage' John 'Breacher' Wharton (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads an elite DEA task force responsible for disrupting drug cartel operations but finds the tables turned after the cartel targets his family as a means of retribution.

A first look at Arnold Schwarzenegger in %22Sabotage%22 opening April 18%2C 2014

Schwarzenegger plays a DEA agent who finds members of his team being killed one at a time

The prolific action star underwent extensive tactical and weapons training before shooting

Sometimes even a Hollywood icon such as Arnold Schwarzenegger can have a bad hair movie.

Case in point: His DEA agent John "Breacher" Wharton from the upcoming thriller Sabotage is super-cut, but he should demand a refund from Supercuts.

"It's the most stupid haircut I have ever had. Look at the way I look!" laments Schwarzenegger, 66, of the styling required by director David Ayer. "I don't know if I'm a conservative DEA officer or one of the Three Stooges. But this director is into the real stuff. And he told me, 'Arnold, I don't want you to look good in this movie. I want you to look real.' "

The haircut and a neck tattoo ("my kids thought that was cool,'' says Schwarzenegger of the temporary ink) were a small part of what Ayer insisted on for Sabotage (due out in April).

Ayer (End of Watch) had his ensemble cast, which also includes Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello and an unrecognizable Sam Worthington, go through a month of full-tactical DEA training before filming started.

"The director was very adamant even for people like myself, and I have handled guns a lot of times," says Schwarzenegger.

The former professional bodybuilder came to appreciate the immersion into DEA weaponry, tactics and culture. "I come from a world of reps. The more reps you do the better you get. So when it comes time to shoot, you hit it. There were no mistakes. We were always right on the money."

Producer Bill Block notes that Ayer "is so much about immersion in tactical street reality.'' That approach allows him "to truly show the world of covert, big-time drug operation take-downs."

This was key in the story about DEA agents who rob a drug cartel safe house and subsequently find each of their members being killed off. Schwarzenegger says the premise and the cast remind him of his 1987 classic Predator, but this time the setting is an urban jungle, not a Central American jungle.

"Once again, every turn you make there's another surprise and someone gets whacked," he says. "And we don't know who is whacking whom. But our guys one-by-one are disappearing in the most gruesome way."

The thriller doesn't feature Schwarzenegger's trademark comedic moments or quips. But it could be just what he needs to recapture his box-office mojo after serving as the governor of California for eight years.

His first two action movies since leaving office in 2011, The Last Stand and Escape Plan (with Sylvester Stallone), both under-performed. But he is confident that the effort that brought Sabotage to the screen will turn the fortunes around.

"There are so many people that study why movies did well and why they didn't do so well," says Schwarzenegger. "I look at it very simply: I am very committed to working my way back up from the bottom slowly. We will get to where I was. That's my goal. And it doesn't matter how much work it takes."