The Running Man
A falsely‑charged ex‑cop must outwit lethal hunters in a televised death game to win his freedom, while the totalitarian regime watches every move. If he fails, the nation’s propaganda machine will cement its grip on a desperate, oppressed populace.
“It is the year 2019. "The Running Man" is a deadly game no one has ever survived. But Schwarzenegger has yet to play.”
Synopsis
By 2017, the global economy has collapsed, and U.S. society has transformed into a totalitarian police state that censors all cultural activity. To pacify the population, the government broadcasts a series of game shows in which convicted criminals fight for their survival. One of these is the gladiator-style show *The Running Man*, hosted by the ruthless Damon Killian. In the show, participants known as "runners" attempt to evade "stalkers" and avoid certain death, with the chance to be pardoned and released.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 34
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Mark WarnerShot by Thomas Del RuthScored by Harold FaltermeyerDesigned by Ron Cobb
Box Office
1987 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.4× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$38.1M
Opening weekend: $8.1M — 21% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $10.3M — 27% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 1,692 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Running Mande
- L'implacabileit
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Cast & Crew
34 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger
as Ben Richards
Maria Conchita Alonso
as Amber Mendez
Yaphet Kotto
as Laughlin
Jim Brown
as Fireball
Jesse Ventura
as Captain Freedom
Erland Van Lidth
as Dynamo
Marvin J Mcintyre
as Weiss
Gus Rethwisch
as Buzzsaw
Professor Toru Tanaka
as Subzero
Mick Fleetwood
as Mic
Dweezil Zappa
as Stevie
Richard Dawson
as Damon Killian
Supporting cast
6Directors
1Writers
2Producers
3Other crew
10Parents Guide
AI Personalities
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