Director Edgar Wright has made it no secret that, even as a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie, he was interested in making The Running Man closer to Stephen King’s original novel. Wright explained, “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.”
A new trailer premiered online days ago and when Stephen King himself posted a link on social media to promote it, the acclaimed author revealed he also previewed the movie. According to Total Film, King posted, “New trailer: RUNNING MAN. BTW: I’ve seen it and it’s fantastic. DIE HARD for our time. A bipartisan thrill ride.”
Wright is directing The Running Man from a script he co-wrote with Michael Bacall and is producing the film with Nira Park and Simon Kinberg. Powell is joined in the cast by Katy O’Brian (who had a breakthrough role in Love Lies Bleeding and shared the screen with Powell in Twisters) as a contestant; Daniel Ezra, who played the character Spencer James on 106 episodes of the CW series All American; Josh Brolin (Outer Range), playing a TV executive who is the main villain; Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire) as a ruthless hunter; Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as a “naïve rebel who tries to help the desperate man”; Emilia Jones (CODA) as a “privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government“; 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; 6-foot-8-inch actor and former MMA fighter Chi Lewis-Parry (28 Years Later) as a runner; and Jayme Lawson (Sinners) and William H. Macy of Fargo and Boogie Nights in unspecified roles.
The Running Man hits theaters on November 14.
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