Who Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Actually Playing In The Running Man, According To Edgar Wright

Cinema Blend

One minor The Running Man SPOILER is ahead.  Glen Powell’s role as Ben Richards in The Running Man marks the second time the Stephen King character has been adapted for film following the 1987 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, there’s a fun connection between the films to be found in the 2025 movie release in the form of a brief appearance by Schwarzenegger on a $100 bill in the film.. But what does that mean he’s playing exactly?  CinemaBlend found out when we spoke to writer/director Edgar Wright. When Jeff McCobb asked him if Schwarzenegger is playing the president in The Running Man, here’s how the filmmaker responded.

Transcript

00:00Everyone was waiting to see if Arnold was going to make some sort of appearance.

00:03Who is he? Is he, like, the president?

00:06Yeah, no, we decided.

00:09I mean, we decided that in our, like, slightly alternate, like, 2025,

00:16that they changed the rules and people not born in the United States could run for president.

00:21So the governor of California eventually became...

00:23So he is the president in our version of events.

00:26And he's Arnold.

00:27And he's Arnold. He's not Ben Richards. He's Arnold.

00:30It sounds like I might be the first person to ask, so I'm going to try to run it.

00:33No, somebody else asked the same question.

00:34He said, oh, is he Ben Richards? Is he Arnold?

00:36No, he's Arnold Schwarzenegger, the president.

00:37I love it. Well, you know...

00:39Also, I have to say, though, and I actually saw him the other night because he watched the film.

00:43I have to give credit to Daniel Waters, the great writer who wrote Demolition Man,

00:48because he made that joke first.

00:50In Demolition Man, they make a brief mention of President Schwarzenegger.

00:54So I want us to continue that joke.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended