13 interesting facts about the film "The Running Man" that many did not know (11 photos)

The fantastic dystopia "The Running Man" with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role was released back in 1987, but it became widely known in our country only in the early 90s. And today I would like to tell you some interesting facts about this cult film.





1. Not everyone knows, but this film was based on the book of the same name by horror master Stephen King. True, he wrote this book under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.



Yes, King wrote not only horror, and the film “The Shawshank Redemption”, based on his book, is still at the top of all kinds of tops.

True, the plot of the book differs in many ways from the film itself. Even King noted that he intended the book to be a dark novel, and the film to be more like a spectacular show.

2. The game "Running Man" shown in the film was invented by King thanks to the real-life Japanese television game of the 80s "Trans-American Ultra Quiz", where participants experienced pain and humiliation directly on camera. He did not jump out of the race and remained until the end of the game, becoming the winner and taking the cash prize.





3. Among the candidates for the leading role were Christopher Reeve (Superman), Patrick Swayze and Dolph Lundgren. But the role went to “Iron Arnie”.

True, Stephen King did not like the director’s choice, since his main character never looked like Schwarzenegger. Moreover, the hero of the book was essentially a loser and an outsider who took part in the game only to save his daughter.



Since the director did not want to change the cast, Stephen King asked to remove his name from the credits and from all posters. As a result, Stephen King was listed in the credits as Richard Bachman.

4. When producer Rob Cohen bought the film rights to The Running Man, he had no idea that Stephen King himself was hiding under the name Richard Bachman.

5. The film’s script was rewritten several times, and several directors changed throughout the time.

6. At the very beginning of the film, Schwarzenegger’s character carries a huge beam on his shoulder. This scene is a reference to the film "Commando", where at the beginning of the film, Arnold's character was carrying a huge log on his shoulder.



This, by the way, is not the only reference to Schwarzenegger’s previous works. Before the game starts, Schwarzenegger's character tells the host "I'll be back", which of course is even a reference to the film "Terminator".



7. The film "The Running Man" was released the same year as the film "Predator". In both of these films, Schwarzenegger starred alongside then-novice actor Jesse Ventura.



But the most interesting thing is that from 1999 to 2003, Ventura was the governor of Minnesota, while Schwarzenegger was the governor of California from 2003 to 2011.



8. After escaping from prison, Schwarzenegger's character wears a World's GYM sweatshirt. This network of fitness clubs at that time belonged to the actor himself.



9. Actor Erland van Lidt, who played the hunter Dynamo, died two months before the release of the film "The Running Man". At the time of his death he was only 34 years old.



10. It was thanks to the film “The Running Man” that the famous television game “Gladiators” appeared, which became a hit all over the world. In this game, ordinary participants had to compete with professional athletes.



This show was popular. And it was thanks to “Gladiators” that we learned who Vladimir Turchinsky was.

11. Despite the fact that many critics called The Running Man Schwarzenegger's best film since The Terminator, the film was not successful in its own country, and with a budget of $27 million, the film was able to gross only $38 million.

12. Most of the soundstage filming took place in an old abandoned steel mill. True, in order to bring the premises into divine shape, it took 7 months of work and a tidy sum of money. But the filming of the film itself took only 2 months.

13. In 2014, Schwarzenegger spoke about the possible filming of the second part of the film, but in the end nothing happened.