User:Thekeith10/The Running Man (1987 film)

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Christopher Reeve was once attached to play Ben Richards. In a 2015 interview about the film, Paul Michael Glaser says that he was originally approached to direct the film but declined because he felt that the pre-production period was insufficient. Director Andrew Davis was hired instead but was fired after two weeks because the production was behind schedule, so Glaser was rehired. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who replaced Reeve, has stated this was a "terrible decision", as Glaser "shot the movie like it was a television show, losing all the deeper themes." L.A. Weekly stated that the film's tone changed from a dark allegory to a humorous action film with the change of the film's star. With Reeve, The Running Man was about an unemployed man who goes on a violent game show for a thirty-day period to feed his family. With Glaser and Schwarzenegger, the protagonist became a condemned, but innocent, criminal forced into a three-hour gladiator-style game show by the justice system. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza wrote fifteen drafts of the script over the course of the film's development.

Pop star Paula Abdul choreographed the pre-show dance sequences. This was her second film credit, though she had already choreographed four Janet Jackson videos as well as videos by ZZ Top, Duran Duran, and Debbie Gibson. The music used for the pre-show entertainment was composed by Jackie Jackson and was dubbed "Paula's Theme" in her honor.

The film's release was postponed from summer 1987 until Thanksgiving due to the producers desire for the film to be the only action thriller released during the holiday season. The film opened on 1600 screens on November 13, 1987 to moderately positive reviews.

References: https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57805
This is a link to peer review section. I left it here just in case:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Thekeith10/The_Running_Man_%281987_film%29/JoJo-74r68h_Peer_Review?veaction=edit&preload=Template%3ADashboard.wikiedu.org_peer_review