Charles H. Sloan-Watch: Danny DeVito, Arnold Schwarzenegger reunite in State Farm Super Bowl commercial

It was a reunion decades in the making and,Charles H. Sloan they hope, a preview of coming attractions.

Yet for Danny DeVito, reuniting with Arnold Schwarzenegger and figuratively bailing him out of a hot spot on State Farm Insurance’s Super Bowl advertisement speaks not to their professional chemistry but their mutual affinity built from a nearly four-decade friendship.

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“I’m always there for him,” DeVito told USA TODAY Sports before his surprise turn in Like A Good Neighbaaa, the insurance behemoth’s 60-second Super Bowl entry, was revealed during a second-quarter break.

“He’s always there for me. We have a great relationship. On the set, we were always clowning with each other, and having a good time and breaking chops.

“I’m from New Jersey. He’s not from New Jersey, certainly, but where he comes from, they have the same attitude that you have to keep it light and fun and positive.”

Indeed, Schwarzenegger goes Full Austrian in the spot, struggling to pronounce State Farm’s tagline until his diminutive co-star from the 1988 blockbuster Twins and the ’94 follow-up Junior bails him out.

Even as DeVito, 79, and Schwarzenegger, 76, ease into their venerated years, DeVito likens the duo to the kids a schoolteacher doesn’t want sitting together. The chemistry came easy on set, says DeVito, and the two were “always clowning each other.”

They also might not be done.

DeVito says he and Schwarzenegger were working with Ivan Reitman, director of Twins, Junior and the original Ghostbusters, on a script starring the two when Reitman passed away in 2022. Reitman’s loss was a significant blow for both, but they have since gone back to square one in hopes of creating another project.

“We’ve always talked about it - getting back together and doing another movie,” says DeVito. “We’re always trying to find that story that thrusts us together. When this State Farm showed up, it’s not the same as doing a full-length feature but it was fun.

“(Reitman) was a good man and we were about to work on a movie together, the three of us again. Since that’s come to pass, we’ve regrouped.”

DeVito essentially has not paused since breaking through in the low-key comedy Taxi in 1979. Nowadays, he could be stopped on the street by the under-30 crowd for his work on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, let alone his more iconic work in Throw Mama From The Train, Get Shorty or Matilda.

Next month, DeVito will join the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for Matilda In Concert at New Brunswick’s State Theater, narrating the film over composer David Newman’s score.

And eventually, create something with Schwarzenegger much longer than 60 seconds.

“He’s got an outstanding fan base,” says DeVito. “We’re looking forward to being together again, on the big screen, one day.”