10 Stephen King Film Remakes Needed To Erase The Terrible Originals
6. The Running Man
"Now wait just a damn minute," you cry. "The Running Man is a classic!" Maybe so. And while I will it's the most thematically relevant film on this list, it's also unabashedly cheesy and contains some of the most tepid actions scenes from the Golden Age of Schwarzenegger. Plus, the plot of a game show where, in this case, unjustly convicted felons brutally murder each other for a chance at freedom has been done in some form or another in the years since. On that note, however, it did present the idea with more sardonic vitriol than any installment of The Hunger Games could even hope to muster. And depending on which side of the fence you stand, there's some sincerely laugh-out-loud meta comedy courtesy of Family Feud host and perennial slime ball Richard Dawson (not to mention Arnold repeating famous one-liners, which feels less meta than it does him forgetting where he is in a given moment). This one could go one of two ways: either you make it as a serious-faced action reboot a la Total Recall that won't read as anything more than a movie trying to play intellectual superior to The Hunger Games; or you (wisely) maintain the absurdity that made the first one so beloved, beef up the action scenes, and stick it to the segment of our culture obsessed with violence. Striking that delicate balance between action and humor with just a hint of darkness has been the downfall of many directors... but not Edgar Wright. While it's unfamiliar territory thematically, there probably isn't another working director who could bring that manic energy to the fight sequences while still making us laugh. Partnering him up with a star that has good comedic timing, but could make a believable action hero is the only way to go. And nowadays, you'd be hard-pressed to beat Channing Tatum to fill that role. With those pieces in place, it'd be one remake to get genuinely excited for. That is, if they smartly opt to once again change the ending from the original novel (no spoilers here, but it's hard not to make certain... associations when you read it).
