After Arnold’s Running Man, Sylvester Stallone’s Top-Rated Dystopian Sci-Fi Is the No-Brainer Remake Hollywood Should Greenlight
They once battled for box-office brawn and the biggest on-screen body counts. Now, as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Running Man races toward a Glen Powell–fronted remake, all eyes turn to Sylvester Stallone—and the cult favorite that’s begging for a 21st-century redo.
With Glen Powell stepping into a new version of Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Running Man and early buzz saying it plays, I keep coming back to another 90s future-shock classic that feels ripe for a do-over: Sylvester Stallone's Demolition Man.
Two action titans, one long scoreboard
Back in the day, Stallone and Schwarzenegger treated Hollywood like a running competition. They chased the same roles, compared box-office muscle, even joked about who racked up the bigger on-screen body count. The Running Man and Demolition Man live in the same neighborhood tonally: dystopian action with a satirical streak. And if you're judging by the numbers, Demolition Man edges out its rival by a nose on ratings.
Why Demolition Man still hits
Demolition Man dropped in 1993 and jumped ahead to 2032, where Stallone's cop John Spartan gets thawed out of cryo-prison to stop Simon Phoenix, a gleefully unhinged killer who escapes and starts tearing up a squeaky-clean future. The setup is simple, the world-building is weird in a fun way, and the whole thing feels more timely now than it did then. If Powell's The Running Man reopens the door for glossy dystopian action, Demolition Man is right there waiting to bust through it.
- The Running Man (1987)
Directed by: Paul Michael Glasser
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Dawson, Gus Rethwisch
IMDb: 6.6/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
Worldwide box office: $38 million
Production: Braveworld Productions
Where to watch now: Paramount+ - Demolition Man (1993)
Directed by: Marco Brambilla
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock
IMDb: 6.7/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
Worldwide box office: $58 million
Production: Silver Pictures
Where to watch now: AMC
So, what about Stallone and remakes?
Not the smoothest track record. Stallone was lined up to return as Gabe Walker in a new take on his 1993 mountain thriller Cliffhanger. Then he bailed. Per ScreenRant, the project moved ahead without him: Jaume Collet-Serra is directing, with Lily James and Pierce Brosnan in lead roles. What started as a passing-the-baton setup shifted into a full reboot. Fair to say: remaking Stallone-era hits has been messy so far.
Bottom line
If The Running Man lands with Powell, studios are going to start flipping through the 80s/90s catalog again. Demolition Man is a clean fit for the moment and already has the edge in the ratings column. I would absolutely watch a modern spin on Spartan vs. Phoenix.
Would you sign up for a Demolition Man remake? Drop your take.