4 ms·

IIRC, Stephen King's "The Running Man" and "The Long Walk" predate both Battle Royale and Hunger Games and deal with similar themes.

russdill 2y ago
The Long Walk is cited by the Battle Royale author as an inspiration.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Dunan 2y ago
  He also has his protagonists hail from the fictional town of Shiroiwa-cho 白岩町, which is a direct translation of King's frequently-seen "Castle Rock". I wonder how many Japanese readers of the original spotted that.
mlok 2y ago
"The Running man" by Stephen King was published in 1982, the movie starring Schwarzenegger was released in 1987 (another adaptation will be released this year in 2025) The story is similar to a Robert Sheckley's short story from 1952,"The Prize of Peril" adapted into a movie in Germany in 1970 "Das Millionenspiel" and in France in 1982 "Le prix du danger" (same year as King's Running Man novel) I would say "The Prize of Peril" is the grandfather of these books, movies and series, as far as I know. Battle Royale is the start of another branch, though : it's not one vs many anymore, it's many vs many. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prize_of_Peril https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prize_of_Peril
- croes 2y ago
  > it's many vs many. More like everyone against everyone.
  - blacksmith_tb 2y ago
    So Hobbes' "war of all against all" is the real prior art, then?
- harimau777 2y ago
  Would The Most Dangerous Game maybe be an earlier ancestor? Although the game in that is more one sided.
  - johnvanommen 2y ago
    Best episode of beavis and butthead
  - jondwillis 2y ago
    Definitely at least some cousin branch of the family tree...
  - skhr0680 2y ago
    The Most Dangerous Game walked so Hard Target could run
  - astrobe_ 2y ago
    Perhaps the core source of inspiration are the roman gladiator arenas, themselves probably inspired from olympic games.
mkehrt 2y ago
Collins has cited "The King Must Die", Mary Renault's book about Theseus and the Minotaur, as a primary inspiration for the The Hunger Games, FWIW.
tootie 2y ago
The Most Dangerous Game was published in 1924

russdill 2y ago

The Long Walk is cited by the Battle Royale author as an inspiration.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Dunan 2y ago
He also has his protagonists hail from the fictional town of Shiroiwa-cho 白岩町, which is a direct translation of King's frequently-seen "Castle Rock". I wonder how many Japanese readers of the original spotted that.

mlok 2y ago

"The Running man" by Stephen King was published in 1982, the movie starring Schwarzenegger was released in 1987 (another adaptation will be released this year in 2025) The story is similar to a Robert Sheckley's short story from 1952,"The Prize of Peril" adapted into a movie in Germany in 1970 "Das Millionenspiel" and in France in 1982 "Le prix du danger" (same year as King's Running Man novel) I would say "The Prize of Peril" is the grandfather of these books, movies and series, as far as I know. Battle Royale is the start of another branch, though : it's not one vs many anymore, it's many vs many. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prize_of_Peril https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prize_of_Peril

croes 2y ago
> it's many vs many. More like everyone against everyone.
- blacksmith_tb 2y ago
  So Hobbes' "war of all against all" is the real prior art, then?
harimau777 2y ago
Would The Most Dangerous Game maybe be an earlier ancestor? Although the game in that is more one sided.
- johnvanommen 2y ago
  Best episode of beavis and butthead
- jondwillis 2y ago
  Definitely at least some cousin branch of the family tree...
- skhr0680 2y ago
  The Most Dangerous Game walked so Hard Target could run
- astrobe_ 2y ago
  Perhaps the core source of inspiration are the roman gladiator arenas, themselves probably inspired from olympic games.

mkehrt 2y ago

Collins has cited "The King Must Die", Mary Renault's book about Theseus and the Minotaur, as a primary inspiration for the The Hunger Games, FWIW.

tootie 2y ago

The Most Dangerous Game was published in 1924