The Running Man has arrived in theaters, giving Stephen King fans another big-screen adaptation of his 1982 dystopian novel. The story was already adapted in 1987, for an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which also featured real-life game show host Richard Dawson as the vile emcee of the film’s contest. That role is now filled by Colman Domingo, who plays a different character with basically the same disregard for the contestants.
The Academy Award-nominated actor talked to GamesRadar+ to promote the film, which co-stars Glen Powell and Josh Brolin. The Running Man follows a man named Ben Richards, who agrees to participate in a reality TV contest where people compete to become billionaires. All they have to do is survive a global hunt carried out by skilled assassins.
In this version of the future, the show The Running Man is obsessively watched by millions across the country. The host, Bobby T, is a charismatic but despicable man who uses every opportunity to portray the hunted as the villains. To play the role, Domingo took inspiration from talk show hosts whose series expose real citizens on TV for entertainment:
“I started to look at old-school talk shows and chat shows like Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer and all that.
“Where we’ve gotten to with the way that we are with people is because of these talk shows that changed the game. Jerry Springer changed the game, and the way people actually deal with each other – the lack of civility that people have. So I really leaned into Jerry Springer because I thought that was interesting. He was just bringing people on to fight, and saying, ‘Oh, well, I had nothing to do with it, I just asked the questions.’ People go to their id.”
Violence Sells in the Surreal Future of ‘The Running Man’
The Running Man takes place in a dystopian future where people are killed for entertainment on primetime television. It is an absurd glimpse into a fictional setting, but director Edgar Wright sees the story as “timely” in terms of how it subtly reflects our current reality.
Lee Pace, who plays villain Evan McCone, shared a similar take with GamesRadar+. “He’s a violent person, but he’s performatively violent,” he said about his character. “Dangerous people don’t actually show you their gun, and it’s the last thing you would do if you’re trying to be really dangerous. But he’s trying to project a certain kind of violent machismo.” The actor also commented on how the story sees violence as an inherent part of its system, and how this eerily reflects modern entertainment:
“It makes me uncomfortable to think that we’re just so complacent with violence and hostility around us and that we find it entertaining. I think it makes people feel strong to watch violence being directed at someone else, it makes you feel like, well, that’s not me.
“And I think with our characters, we’re people who are on the other side of that, and we’re creating an entertainment in the fiction of the show where people get to enjoy being on our side of the violence. We’re the good guys. Ben Richards is the bad guy in the surreality of the reality show.”
