Back in the 80s, Stephen King adaptations ruled the theaters. You could barely go a few months without hearing about a new film that was coming out. One that many would be surprised to find out was a King adaptation would be the testosterone-infused murder game show The Running Man. Released under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman, the book was hardly a hit. Once King was outed as the author, sales went through the roof. Hollywood came calling. With King being popular once again, another adaptation of the book is in the making.
What’s It About?
In the 80s adaptation, Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a wrongfully convicted police officer. He gets a chance at freedom if he can survive the game show The Running Man. Of course, the game is rigged so that no one ever wins, but this time is different. They don’t know who they are messing with. So does that mean we can look forward to someone more like The Rock showing up this time? Nope.
Director Edgar Wright has said he intends to take the story back closer to what the book was. This is actually a lot different from the Arnold film. Once he came on board, the film was rewritten to mold it into the type of movies he was known for. Lots of action, one-liners, and of course Arnie killing lots of bad guys.
In the book version, the playing field is actually the entire world. Viewers are rewarded for calling in the runner’s location to the Hunters who are after him. Ben isn’t a wrongfully imprisoned convict but instead a father whose daughter needs some expensive medicine they can’t afford. He signs up to be on the deadly game show and quickly finds out that the Network is corrupt. Now, he just has to survive the game and hope they pay up.
During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast a while back, Wright said he was drawn to The Running Man because, “I like the film but I like the book more, and they didn’t really adapt the book. Even as a teenager when I saw the Schwarzenegger film I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t like the book at all!’ And I think, ‘Nobody’s [done] that book.’ So when that came up, I was thinking, and Simon Kinberg says, ‘Do you have any interest in The Running Man?’ I said, ‘You know what? I’ve often thought that that book is something crying out to be adapted.’ Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy! [Laughs] But it’s something that we are working on, yes.”
Who’s In It?
If this version will skew closer to the book, they’ll trade in some of the muscle-bound actors we saw in the 1987 film. While the action can still be top-notch, some of the things that made it a perfect Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to be dropped. While that version is an excellent Arnold movie, it’s not a great adaptation of the book.
Glen Powell as Ben Richards
Powell has been showing up in a lot of movies lately and signing on to this will be his turn at playing the “every man” that Bruce Willis started out playing. This Ben can’t lift a tank over his head, but he can hopefully bring more pathos to the character. He plays the game of The Running Man to ensure the survival of his sick daughter. This brings a lot more to the role that hopefully Powell will sink his teeth into. Although, from his other movies, he still has way more abs than most average people I know, so it’s still a little too pretty for most average viewers.
Powell has said that he used his friendship with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son Patrick – and not the fact that he already worked with Arnold on The Expendables 3 – to set up a FaceTime meeting. “Arnold gave us his full blessing and we get to give Arnold a very specific fun gift from the movie in a couple of weeks… So I’m very excited to see him.” During an interview with CBR, Schwarzenegger said, “I love the idea that they’re doing a sequel to Running Man, or a remake. I don’t know what it’s going to be, but I always felt when we did Running Man that it would have been great if we would have been better prepared for this movie, if we would have had more money for this movie, and if we would have had then… the visual effects, the technology of visual effects, that they have today, all of those things I wished after the movie came out, I felt like it could have been better. It was great, but it could have been better, and I think that they have a good chance now with the new Running Man to make it better. And I hope, for their sake and for my sake, I hope that they will be successful.“
When production on the remake began, Powell was spotted on set – and yes, he was running:
Powell also shared an image when production wrapped:
Wright told Empire, “One of the things about the book that I loved was the fact that Ben Richards is out in the world on his own, so it’s like the deadliest game of hide and seek. It does feel like making a road movie in a lot of ways: a very intense, dangerous road movie. Ben is moving through different environments and meeting different people as he tries to survive 30 days out in the wild.” As for why he cast Glen Powell in the lead rather than an established action star, he said, “I felt it was important to see somebody who hadn’t really done something like this before. It’s similar to Bruce Willis, when he was still the guy from Moonlighting, before he did Die Hard, where that adds to the suspense. Can they make it?“
Josh Brolin as The Producer
In the previous film, they made the character of Killian as the show’s figurehead. In a genius move, they cast Richard Dawson, who most viewers were used to seeing in their house multiple times a week, as the original host of Family Feud. Bringing that familiarity to viewers only to twist it was a great move. Brolin has the chops to conform to just about any role. He could have been cast as Ben Richards, and we would have believed it. Now it looks like he’ll be the scumbag producer that we all love to hate, and he’ll probably do a great job at that as well.
Lee Pace as Chief Hunter
The closest version we had of this character before was Captain Freedom, played by Jesse Ventura. He mainly gave an analytical take on the game throughout but was forced to come out of retirement when Ben Richards proved to be too much to handle. I imagine Pace’s version will be a lot darker and more introspective. My only hope is they give him a large hammer, so Marvel fans can squee as we imagine he’s Ronan The Accuser. Pace always dives into some interesting places for his characters, so I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.
Katy O’Brian as Contestant
Katy has been showing up in all kinds of fun franchises over the last handful of years. We’ve seen her in one of the Ant-Man movies, a couple of Star Wars shows, and as one of the main leads in Love Lies Bleeding. So far, it doesn’t specify if she will be a contestant who is part of the game alongside Ben or if she may be a former contestant who escaped the Network’s wrath. Now, she can add “Stephen King Adaptation” to her resume.
Michael Cera & Emilia Jones
Edgar Wright is also set to reunite with his Scott Pilgrim star Michael Cera, who’s been cast as a “naive rebel” who tries to help Glen Powell’s character. Emilia Jones, who earned raves for her breakout turn in the Oscar-winning CODA, has also been cast, with her playing “a privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government opposite Powell’s Richards.” That role sounds a bit like the one Maria Conchita Alonso played in the Schwarzenegger movie, but we’ll have to wait and see!
William H. Macy
William H. Macy of Fargo and Boogie Nights is also in the cast, but details on his character have not been revealed.
Also in the cast are David Zayas (Dexter) as a character named Richard Manuel, Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead) as the host of The Running Man, a violent reality show promising an outrageous cash prize; and Chi Lewis-Parry, the 6-foot-8-inch actor and former MMA fighter who played the “alpha” infected / zombie character called Samson in 28 Years Later, taking on an unspecified role.
Possible Controversy (Spoilers Ahead For The Novel)
There are a few things from the novel that may have to be changed from the novel to keep it from being too controversial for theatergoers. The big one is the ending of the novel. To bring down the corrupt Network and cancel the game of The Running Man permanently, Ben Richards hijacks a plane and flies it into their skyscraper headquarters. While this ending was published in 1982, it might be a little much for viewers now after seeing such a sight after 9/11. Would blowing up the headquarters at all be possible? Maybe. We’ll have to see if audiences are ready to see if that ending could work. For all we know, Wright could have devised the perfect ending for a modern setting.
When Can You See It?
We’ll be able to see this film on November 7, 2025 (after it was bumped up from the previously announced November 21 release date).
JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray was at CinemaCon in early 2025 to witness the first trailer and reports that Edgar Wright, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, and Glen Powell were all in attendance. “As suggested previously, the movie is about the “runners” being on the run for a month all over the world while being hunted, as it’s being documented on a reality show. Domingo is the host, Brolin is the show mastermind.” Here’s his description of the trailer: Set in a dystopian future. No one has ever survived The Running Man. Glen Powell’s daughter is sick and he needs money. The film has an epic scope – the design of the show where Domingo hosts is reminiscent of the original, but the scope is very different as the lead is running all over the world, and regular people are trying to kill him too. One set piece is set on a plane as the pilots try to kill him and they all flip around the cabin. Also looks like it could be R-Rated and has LOADS of action. Very much Glen Powell’s launch as a Tom Cruise style star.
What do you think? Are you excited about a Running Man remake? Let us know in the comments below.
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