Four years have gone by since it was announced that Edgar Wright was coming on board to direct a new take on the novel The Running Man, which was written by Stephen King under his Richard Bachman pen name. The Running Man was, of course, previously turned into a film back in 1987 that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and had little to do with the source material. Last year, Wright’s film entered production with Glen Powell of Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and Twisters in the lead role. Filming wrapped in the early months of this year, with the movie heading toward a November 14th theatrical release. With that date now right around the corner, a new poster for the film has been unveiled and can be seen at the bottom of this article.
King’s novel has the following description: It was the ultimate death game in a nightmare future America. The year is 2025 and reality TV has grown to the point where people are willing to wager their lives for a chance at a billion-dollar jackpot. Ben Richards is desperate – he needs money to treat his daughter’s illness. His last chance is entering a game show called The Running Man where the goal is to avoid capture by Hunters who are employed to kill him. Surviving this month-long chase is another issue when everyone else on the planet is watching – and willing to turn him in for the reward. Here’s the synopsis for the new film adaptation: In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television—a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward. Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.
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.”
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.
Are you looking forward to The Running Man remake? Take a look at the new poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
