The 65-year-old former politician has sold the rights for the TV series to US cable network Showtime, a newspaper said. An hour-long drama is being made into a pilot, set in 1970s Venice Beach, California, tracing the origins of the present-day fitness industry and culture of body worship to one gym called 'Pump'.

If the series gets the go-ahead, Schwarzenegger is planned to become a recurring character. Executive producer Eric Tannenbaum said he was excited when the idea was brought to him by writer Michael Konyves. "We loved it, but I said the only way you can really tell this story is if we can get Arnold involved. The birth of the fitness/bodybuilding revolution can literally be traced back to the days when Arnold arrived in the US," Tannenbaum said.