Stephen King’s darkest endings have a mixed history in Hollywood. Lewis Teague’s Cujo notably doesn’t end with young Tad Trenton dying of heat exhaustion, but Mary Lamberts

The Running Man, in which economically desperate people participate in a deadly game show, was first published in 1982 by one Richard Bachman, the fourth of an eventual seven of Bachman's novels. At the time of its release, no one knew this was a pseudonym.

The Running Man takes place in a dystopian future (that's really not too far in the future TBH), and it follows the reality competition show of the same name. In the show, Runners have to survive for 30 days to win the ultimate cash prize. But everyday they're hunted by professional assassins...while everything they do is put on national TV.