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Credit: Tri-Star Pictures, Paramount Pictures
There is no greater indication that someone is getting old than seeing movies you grew up watching getting remade. Such is my feeling with the brand new version of The Running Man starring Glen Powell that hit theaters on November 14. The original Arnold Schwarzenegger movie is one that I saw countless times on television as a kid. It’s possibly the Schwarzenegger movie I’ve seen more than any other.
I was excited to see the new remake from director Edgar Wright. It’s a much more faithful version of Stephen King’s original dystopian nightmare, but with some of Edgar Wright’s trademark style thrown into the mix. There are a lot of reasons to appreciate a more faithful remake, but there is one part of the first film that was absolutely brilliant that I wish the remake had borrowed.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
The Original Running Man Had An Inspired Piece Of Casting
While the first adaptation of The Running Man is drastically different from Stephen King’s story, the most wildly different take is the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a massive human being, to play Ben Richards, much more of an everyman in the book. There is, however, an absolutely brilliant piece of casting in the film that goes a long way to making the movie, Richard Dawson as Damon Killian.
In the novel, as in the new movie, Dan Killian is the producer of The Running Man while the show is hosted by Bobby Thompson (or Bobby T as played by Colman Domingo in the new movie). The original film combines these roles into Damon Killian, both producer and host, who was played by Richard Dawson, who had only recently left as the actual host of Family Feud.
The decision to bring in an actor who was known primarily as a game show host, and to make that host, generally well-loved by audiences, absolutely despicable and the ultimate villain of the movie, was genius. It was an absolutely amazing subversion of expectations. It’s one of the earliest memories I have of seeing an actor work “against type” in a big way, and the new film could have really had some fun if it had gone the same route.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
The Running Man Remake Should Have Brought In A Modern Game Show Host
Colman Domingo plays the host of The Running Man in the new film, and, because he’s Colman Domingo, he’s great. It’s a small role without a great deal of depth, but it’s a character who only needs to be charismatic, and Domingo has that in bunches.
That said, I can’t help but think the movie could have had some real fun if it had gone the same route as the original Running Man and cast an actual game show host in the role of Bobby T. Imagine if the movie had gone with Steve Harvey, the current host of Family Feud, but made him a truly terrible person. Personally, I would have loved to see Ryan Seacrest, the host of, I think, everything on TV except Family Feud, play the most awful version of himself that he possibly could.
Overall, the new Running Man is still a solidly good movie without this, and changing the casting of the show’s host wouldn’t have saved the movie from its tragically bad ending. But it could have added something more to the movie and paid a bit of homage to the original beyond a brief Arnold Schwarzenegger cameo. Maybe next time.
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