The Running Man

The Running Man is a 1987 American dystopian action film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, and Jesse Ventura. The film is set in a dystopian United States between 2017 and 2019, featuring a television show where convicted criminal "runners" must escape death at the hands of professional killers is very loosely based on the 1982 novel of the same title written by Stephen King and published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The Running Man was a moderate box office success in the United States, grossing $38 million on its $27 million budget, but opened to mixed reviews from critics. A new movie adaptation of the novel, announced in early 2021, is in development at Paramount Pictures, with Edgar Wright directing and Michael Bacall writing the script. Plot By 2017, the United States has become a totalitarian police state following a worldwide economic collapse. The government pacifies the populace through violent TV shows; its most popular being The Running Man, a broadcast game show, where criminals fight for their lives as "runners", fleeing from armed mercenaries called "stalkers", to earn a government pardon and tropical vacation.