Edgar Wright hopes that The Running Man gains more appreciation over time.
The 51-year-old director's remake of the 1987 action movie underwhelmed at the box office when it was released last year but he believes that winning over audiences can be a gradual process – as his 2010 flick Scott Pilgrim vs. The World proved.
Asked if The Running Man can find its audience now that it has been released on DVD, Wright told Empire magazine: "You would absolutely hope so.
"I think there's a thing where you're threading a needle with a remake. It's a very tricky target to hit, because on the one hand you've got people who liked the original film and maybe wonder why it's not more like that, and maybe there's a certain portion of people who wish it was as hardcore and nihilistic as the book.
"And there's a percentage of people who just accept the film for what it actually is."
The Hot Fuzz filmmaker continued: "I've been in this position before. Scott Pilgrim didn't do well on its initial release, and over time has become a cult movie, or even a catalogue title for Universal.
"I feel like The World's End, the perception of it has changed over time. Usually as the people watching it hit 40, they're like, 'Oh, I get it!'
"When they start to have their mid-life crisis, it hits home in a different way."
The Running Man – which starred Glen Powell as lead character Ben Richards – only grossed $69 million at the global box office when it was released last November but Edgar sees "a life beyond the opening weekend" for the flick.
He said: "Having been here before, I don't prescribe to the idea that the life of the film can be entirely told in the first 72 hours.
"It's a weird thing that happens with all films, where their box office is treated like football results. I'm proud of the movie. There's a lot to talk about, and there is a life beyond the opening weekend."
Meanwhile, Wright recalled how production on the sci-fi action flick was made even harder by Powell suffering a hand injury whilst shooting a fight scene towards the end of production.
The Shaun of the Dead helmer said: "Glen injured his hand in the cockpit fight. We were very lucky that it wasn't worse, and very lucky that Glen is Glen, and is such a trouper, because we ended up going two weeks over.
"After that he had to keep his hand straight, in a splint, for the rest of the shoot. So, everything in Elton's (Michael Cera) house, everything in the tunnel, abseiling outside the YVA, running alongside the train, the rest of the cockpit fight, we still had to finish."
Edgar explained how the cast and crew had to get creative to incorporate Glen's injury into the picture.
He recalled: "We just had to be really clever about it. In the tunnel fight with Karl Glusman (Frank), we added an extra beat where Karl slashes (Glen's) hand with a knife, and then he wraps it in a bandage. That was to get around the injury.
"Glen was the person who most wanted it to work, because he got in the best shape of his life. He was like, 'Well, I don't want to not do the stuff.' So it's still Glen doing it – we just had to be really careful and clever."
