Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked by kl78 on June 27, 2021
The movie The Running Man (1987) is based on the Stephen King Novel The Running Man (1982).
The movie Das Millionenspiel (1970) is based on the short story "The Prize of Peril" (1960). (The movie The 10th victim (1965) is also based on the short story)
I have seen both movies, but I must admit, I did not read the stories.
The movies have the same base story, a game show with a charismatic host where a candidate is hunted by some people and must try to survive, with strong media criticism.
Is there also such a strong similarity in the books?
Also, was King inspired by the older movie or short story, did he just copy the idea, or is the similarity by accident? Did King or the makers of the movie ever admit the influence of the older story/movie?
From a discussion on Amazon, from a commenter named E. Martin Olson (possibly this fellow who collaborated with Sheckley on a book):
Bob Sheckley told me he was surprised at Running Man because it was so close to The Prize of Peril. Sheckley said King was apparently a fan of his, so I asked Bob how he handled it. He said he wrote out a list of all the similarities between the two stories and then called King on the phone. He said King was surprised and said he didn't remember reading The Prize of Peril. Sheckley really had nowhere to go after that and the conversation was over. Sheckley didn't characterize King as a thief or as not as nice guy, but he told me King probably read it and forgot about it, and then was too embarrassed because he'd accidentally stolen from Sheckley, a writer he liked.
I don't believe that King (even under the Bachman pen name) ever commented publicly on the similarities.
Correct answer by FuzzyBoots on June 27, 2021
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