My most anticipated film of 2025 is Edgar Wright’s The Running Man. The Stephen King adaptation was attempted back in the 80s with Arnold Schwarzenegger and it is nothing like the book itself. Now, the Wright and Michael Bacall adaptation promises to bring us a more accurate take on it.
As part of the preparation for the film’s release, Collider gave fans an exclusive look at the film with an image of Glen Powell and quotes from director and co-writer, Edgar Wright, about the film itself. Wright shared that his adaptation of the film has some…appealing aspects for fans. “I have to start coming up with my snappy elevator pitches. I would say it’s a new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man that features not only running, but also fighting, hiding, falling, shooting and some half naked abseiling.”
Powell’s take on Ben is already different than Schwarzenegger’s as we saw in the trailer. And it does seem like Bacall and Wright are doing something a little more faithful to the King book with this film. But when talking with Collider, Wright spoke about the joy of working with Powell and how this is a new adventure for the actor. Previous to The Running Man, he’s been in action films like Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters but a beast like The Running Man is completely different.
“Part of the fun for me was casting someone like Glen just before they’ve made the leap to full-on action icon. I kept thinking about who Bruce Willis was before Die Hard, he was only known to audiences as the romantic lead in Moonlighting. Glen is such a relatable, charming actor, and it’s fun to put him through the mill and see him spend the movie literally on the run. The whole film is more exciting with Glen being your everyman at the heart of the action,” Wright said. “You see him sweat, you see him think, you keep him on his back foot for the whole adventure. I’m so thrilled with Glen’s performance in the lead. The Ben Richards in Stephen King’s novel is an everyman; he’s tough because he’s worked some of the worst jobs in the world, but he’s not a trained killer or superhero. He’s an out of work father, who out of desperation to get medicine for his daughter, risks everything on the deadliest game show of all time.”
You can see Powell take on the Stephen King character when The Running Man hits theaters on November 7. And if you’ve been following my own personal journey with this movie, you know that I cannot wait!
(featured image: Paramount Pictures)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
