The Running Man is the latest of the (many) 2025 movie releases that have been adapted from a Stephen King book, and while the Easter eggs to other King works are many, there’s another that was very unexpected during the movie’s runtime. You may have noticed in Edgar Wright’s movie there’s a great nod to popular reality TV in the dystopian action thriller. When CinemaBlend spoke to the writer and director, he told us how the movie’s Kardashians-like parody came about.
Let’s unpack what happened.
How The Running Man Parodies Reality TV Like The Kardashians
In The Running Man, the main focus is on the intense competition Glen Powell’s character Ben Richards becomes the star of. Because of this, a lot of the world is framed through a TV lens. We see ads (amusingly) for products like Liquid Death, and we also find out the world’s TV viewers are hooked on their own version of The Kardashians.
In the flick’s case, it’s called The Americanos, and in a few moments throughout the new movie, even Ben Richards got sucked in. Check out some images from The Americanos:
You cannot mistake the nods to The Kardashians here. And, the movie really nails the parody.
What Edgar Wright Told Us About The Americanos
When CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb talked to Edgar Wright, the filmmaker shared with us how The Americanos were conceived. As it turns out, the reality minds behind the Hulu show were actually a huge help for the movie production, with Wright telling us:
I gotta say, we actually got in touch with the crew of [The Kardashians] just to ask them about that kind of—how they shoot it and what cameras they use and stuff. So, thanks to them. Me and Micah Bacall had this idea, he came up with the name of the Americanos and I said, maybe the money is in coffee. Maybe they’re all like coffee magnates.
Well, that’s a fun play on words. Americanos… like “americano” the coffee order! It’s interesting to hear that Wright and the crew did some background research before filming the parody, and how they decided to interweave it into the movie – which leans heavily into social commentary and TV culture.
Those with a Hulu subscription will know the vibe of The Americanos feels spot-on. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised those who worked on the show were helpful. Even series lead Kim Kardashian is usually cool with poking fun at herself, and it’s a rare day when a big budget movie probably needs help from a reality show. It likely helped that Wright’s familiar with the gist thanks to some of his pals.
It was the first day of the pre-shooting of the film. I think that’s the thing is I mean, I admit that like those shows, there’s not too many of them that I’ve watched. I know other friends of mine that are obsessed with Real Housewives and Vanderpump and Kardashians.I haven’t seen too much of that.
Sure, Wright isn’t exactly a fan of a lot of reality TV shows himself, but lots of people who pay attention to the 2025 TV schedule absolutely do, and it’s a fun way to nod to what could be popular on television in this dystopian world. The movie also pays fun tribute to the fact Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the original movie version.
Of course, in our reality there’s no one actually being hunted down for death to win a large sum of money, but the movie certainly highlights how entertainment can go to extremes to be “good TV”. And, while reality TV like the Kardashians is no competition show, it’s definitely part of the conversation when it comes to something that a lot of people regularly consume that is offering up a lot of the family’s life to the public.
I still never expected to write Stephen King and The Kardashians in the same sentence, but there’s always room for new movie milestones.