They are three little words that threatened to haunt Arnold Schwarzenegger and hamper his political ambitions. "I'll be back," was the catchphrase uttered by the bodybuilder-turned-movie star as his most famous screen incarnation, the Terminator.

Ten years later after Terminator 2, cinema audiences were still waiting. The seven-times-Mr Universe's star was fading as younger, fitter stars such as Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt took over as the most bankable actors.

Schwarzenegger's attempts to find box-office form after heart surgery failed to deliver the dollars as the box office. His poor screen reputation put his political aspirations in danger. Nobody would buy a film failure as a politician.

But he's not one to give up without a fight. This is, after all, a man who says: "I set a goal, visualise it very clearly, and create the drive, the hunger, for turning it into a reality".

That attitude took him from an Austrian village to become the biggest bodybuilder in the world, and then take over the top spot in Hollywood. He applied the same ambition and energy used to achieve those ambitions towards reviving his screen career. Getting the much-mooted, constantly-delayed Terminator 3 made would restore his box-office clout and kickstart his campaign to become the next governor of California.

He's never hidden his political ambitions. He was asked, but decided against, running in 2000. But it was only a matter of time before he made his move. And that time is now. He's thought to be days away from announcing if he'll join the race to become governor.

"If the state needs me, and there's no one I think is better, then I will run," he said in a recent declaration of intent.

This comes after the go-ahead was given for a vote to recall the present governor, Gray Davis. He's become deeply unpopular after failing to deal with the state's financial debt. The Terminator could be the man to pull California back from the brink of bankruptcy.

The groundwork has been laid. Marrying into the Kennedy clan - he wed JFK's niece Maria Shriver in 1986 and they have four children - must have helped his understanding of the US political machine. He's also ploughed his own money into an initiative called the Californian After School Education Safety Act, to provide for children's activities outside school hours.

Over the years, the man nicknamed Conan the Republican has never missed an opportunity, when promoting his movies, to remind people of his political intentions.

"I think that the greatest thing you can do is serve the people," he said recently. "It gives me the most satisfaction - much more than going down another red carpet to do a movie premiere - to go and create after-school programmes, help special Olympians, inspire kids to stay away from drugs and gangs."

The next election for governor wasn't due until 2006. The recall has changed that, although the earlier timetable couldn't be better for Schwarzenegger, who celebrates his 56th birthday on Wednesday. It comes as he's riding high with the US success of T3, which opens in this country next week.

His might not be the greatest comeback since Bobby Ewing reappeared in the shower in Dallas, but big enough to boost the Austrian Oak's profile. He needs to look like a winner for the sake of his political career. Now he has the proof: his $30m salary, and T3 as the number one US film. And doing the stunts shows him back in peak physical form too.

Publicising the movie in the US and Europe - and Schwarzenegger has never been backward in coming forward when promoting his films - has provided a useful platform for him. Everywhere he went, he was asked if he was going to stand for governor. His answer was always a non-committal "wait and see", while serving to test the waters.

T3 might be seen as a very expensive advertisement for his candidacy. Costing around $170m, the film is certainly one of the most expensive ever to get the green light.

The first film in 1984, with Schwarzenegger as a robot on a mission to change the future, cost a mere $6.4m and made a fortune, along with his status as a leading screen action man. Seven years later T2's budget of $113m made it the most expensive movie up to then.

The delay in making the third Terminator resulted partly from complications over the rights and partly from the reluctance of Titanic director James Cameron, who directed the first two films, to commit to the project.

At one point, Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't do T3 without Cameron.

That he did in the end, proceeding with Jonathan Mostow as the new director, is perhaps a sign that he realised how important the project was to his future. He gambled on the producers being unable to make a Terminator film without him, as his name was linked so inextricably with the character. By sticking to his guns, he got the massive pay cheque he demanded, although some worried the huge fee was too high for someone who hadn't had a hit in six years.

He had proved Hollywood wrong before, notably those who claimed both his broken English accent and a name that didn't exactly trip off the tongue would be bars to screen stardom.

In his feature film debut, Hercules In New York, his voice was dubbed and he was billed as Arnold Strong. But he was determined to do it his way, with his accent and name. So he set himself a goal - to become a star that people could identify simply from one name. Say Arnie or Schwarzenegger now, and everyone knows whom you mean.

Even if he emulates fellow actor Ronald Reagan to become governor of California, he can't follow him into the White House. Being born outside the US rules him out as President, even though he became a US citizen in 1983.

There has been talk of him making T4 along with plans for sequels to his previous hits Conan, True Lies and Total Recall. More likely, he'll be using his muscle as a politician in the future.

A scene in T3 shows him with a blazing gun in one hand, with the other hand supporting a coffin on his shoulder. It could be one of the last appearances of Schwarzenegger the action man. Pretty soon those hands will be shaking hands with voters on the political campaign trail.

* There are advance screenings of T3: Rise Of The Machines (12A) in cinemas on Thursday, then the film goes on general release on Friday.

Terminator 2 is showing on five on Sunday at 9pm, following the documentary He's Back: The Terminator Story (8pm) and another Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero (5.45pm).