MOVIE NEWS – Over the years, the 1987 film The Running Man has quietly earned cult status, with Arnold Schwarzenegger fleeing ruthless killers in a deadly TV game show where, after a brutal chase, it is the hunters who meet a grisly end.

With a new version of The Running Man now in cinemas, it was inevitable that Arnie would be asked for his thoughts, since this take partly carries on his legacy – but only partly, because director and writer Edgar Wright has preserved far more elements from Stephen King’s original novel than the makers of the earlier adaptation.

From the new film’s team, it was lead actor Glen Powell who felt most strongly that he had to seek out Arnie’s opinion, since he is playing that character 38 years later. The former bodybuilder and governor watched the movie in an intimate setting with friends and Powell, and he did not hold back his reaction.

“He totally lit up, because he immediately clocked that this was finally a faithful adaptation of the original work,” Powell told ScreenRant. “He kept saying, ‘this is unbelievable’. He got really fired up by what he saw, but the first thing he said to me was, ‘You must have been completely wrecked by the shoot’. He has made a ton of action films, so he knows exactly how punishing it is when you are always running and falling off things.”

Schwarzenegger’s words of support meant a great deal to Powell, who says most audiences have no idea how much physical and mental strain goes into making a truly fast paced action film.

(The Running Man – now in Hungarian cinemas!)

Source: UIP Dunafilm