The Running Man Director Explains Unusual Cameo From [Spoiler]
Director Edgar Wright’s new film, The Running Man, is a fresh, dystopian take on the Stephen King book, but it also finds a clever way to pay homage to the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film that first brought the story to the screen. Wright detailed the thinking behind a very specific and surprising cameo in the remake that has fans talking.
Edgar Wright discusses Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cameo in The Running Man remake
The Running Man trailer reveals a surprising detail for sharp-eyed viewers: the face of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the original film’s star, now appears on the future’s currency. Director Edgar Wright has now explained the dual meaning behind this clever photographic cameo.
When asked if the appearance of a President Arnold Schwarzenegger on a $100 bill was an obligation to the 1987 film, Wright clarified it was a thoughtful nod. “I thought it was a nice little nod [to the ‘87 film],” Wright told The Hollywood Reporter.
He explained that co-writer Michael Bacall wrote the idea of a “new dollars” currency into The Running Man’s script. While audiences only see the Arnold bill in closeup, the production designed all the bills with different presidents.
Wright then revealed the cameo’s second layer of meaning, crediting another sci-fi classic. “It’s a shared joke with the Demolition Man universe,” he shared. “In Demolition Man, they mention President Schwarzenegger, so it’s my little shout out to both Arnie and [screenwriter] Daniel Waters.”
The nod adds dimension to a remake that has long remained a passion project for Wright. He first tweeted in 2017 that The Running Man was the remake he’d most like to direct, which later led producer Simon Kinberg to offer him the job.
Determined to return to Stephen King’s original story, Wright and co-writer Bacall repositioned Glen Powell’s Ben Richards as a working-class man forced into the deadly TV competition, which is a stark contrast to the 1987 film’s more gladiator-style spectacle.
The Running Man is currently running in theaters.
Source: Comingsoon.net