Stephen King Tips His Hat to ‘The Running Man’ Remake
Stephen King has dubbed the new take on The Running Man the 'Die Hard' of today, praising its lead and action-packed plot, even though the film didn’t make a splash at the box office.
When it comes to action flicks, tossing around comparisons to Die Hard has become a bit of a lazy habit in the industry. Still, that didn’t stop Stephen King from drawing the parallel himself. As is often the case, the comparison doesn’t quite hit the mark, but King’s take comes with a twist—he’s talking about a story he penned in the first place.
Ever since John McClane went barefoot through Nakatomi Plaza, the Die Hard formula has been copied and tweaked in all sorts of ways. Some films have managed to pull it off, like The Rock, Speed, Air Force One, and Con Air, each shifting the action to a new setting with plenty of flair. But for every hit, there’s been a handful of duds—think Sudden Death in a hockey rink, Performance Command at a rock gig, Top of the World in a casino, or Point Blank in a shopping centre. Turns out, just copying Die Hard isn’t as easy as it looks.
King’s Take on the Remake
To be fair, King wasn’t claiming the new version of The Running Man was a carbon copy. He was more giving himself a bit of a pat on the back, since the story started with him. When Edgar Wright took the director’s chair for the remake, King was quick to give it his stamp of approval.
“It’s got just a twinkle in it,”
he told the BFI, going on to say that Glen Powell’s take on Ben Richards had the same everyman appeal as Bruce Willis.
“He’s an immensely likeable character, and he has that in common with McClane in Die Hard. So, I mean, it’s important to have a likeable main character, and he really is, and he feels fleshed out. It’s good.”
Comparing Apples and Oranges
Of course, the similarities only go so far. The Running Man is all about a bloke on the run for a month, dodging danger across the country, while McClane’s ordeal is packed into a single night at a Christmas party. The new film, despite its big budget and R rating, hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. Even with Glen Powell being the flavour of the month, the film struggled to pull in punters and recoup its hefty price tag.
Die Hard managed to spawn a string of sequels, each one a bit less memorable than the last. As for The Running Man, it’s already fading from the spotlight, and there’s no guarantee those who caught it at the cinema will be back for another round.