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.
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.
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.
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.
With production on the remake underway, Powell was spotted on set – and yes, he was running:
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.
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 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.
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 of Fargo and Boogie Nights is also in the cast, but details on his character have not been revealed.
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.
According to the ever-reliable (sarcasm) IMDB, we’ll be able to see this film on November 21, 2025. Hopefully, it hasn’t been delayed due to the writer’s and actor strikes. Never believe a release date until you see a trailer, especially for a King adaptation. I’m looking at you, Salem’s Lot.
What do you think? Are you excited about a Running Man remake? Let us know in the comments below.