20 Movie Characters Completely Different From Their Source Material

Sometimes a film will lean further into the strengths of its lead actor rather than the source material it is adapting, which can beg the question, why cast them in the first place? The answer for 1987's The Running Man is simply down to the unmatched star power Arnold Schwarzenegger would bring with him.

Who wouldn't have cast Arnie in the 80s if they had the chance? However, family man wasn't exactly what anyone thought when they looked at the Austrian strongman, which may have had some influence in why his character's backstory was so different than Stephen King's novel.

Originally, Ben Richards was a devoted husband and father who was forced into playing The Running Man out of desperation. His family were past the point of struggling, and with the alternative being his wife turning to sex work, he signed up.

Arnie's version of the character however, was a police officer, completely different from the source material. He still had the sympathetic factor, as he was framed for murder after refusing to kill innocent civilians, but the motivation and reason for playing the game couldn't have been more different. Edgar Wright and Glen Powell played it closer to King's version in this regard, but unlike Arnie, there was absolutely no issue with Powell playing the family man.