In any other Hollywood, at this point Arnold Schwarzenegger would be doing reality shows. It pains me to say this, but it’s the truth; he has not been lighting the box office on fire since he came back to Hollywood. But Hollywood is apparently desperate, and so’s Arnold, and so The Running Man 2 might happen.
For those who haven’t seen it, The Running Man is a camp classic allegedly based on a Stephen King novel where poor people are put through a gaudy, homicidal game show for the entertainment of the masses. It is even less subtle than that plot description makes it sound, believe it or not.
It’s actually not a bad movie, even as they pretty much flush everything that made King’s rather grim science fiction novel interesting down the toilet. But, well, here’s the trailer:
Yeah, it is of its time. So Badass Digest reporting that they might do a sequel is worrying news. Apparently Schwarzenegger has been approached, and he might do it right after Triplets. Yes, the sequel to Twins. That’s a thing, too.
That said, it’s not the worst idea; back in 1987, the idea of reality TV was largely limited to goofy PBS experiments. Now, we’ve got nightmare fuel like Solitary actually on the air. An updated version of the movie that actually reflects how we’ve changed, and not necessarily for the better, since the ’80s would be fascinating. Then again, we’re asking for thoughtful social satire from a movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, so we’ll see how that plays out.
