Stephen King’s The Running Man, penned under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, was adapted into a classic 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. And while that film is great fun and a stone-cold classic in my humble opinion, it bears little resemblance to the source material. Edgar Wright is doing things differently with his faithful adaptation starring Glen Powell, and now we have a brand new trailer.
In The Running Man, Powell plays Ben Richards, a desperate man in a dystopian America where reality TV has taken over to the point that people will risk their lives for a chance to hit the jackpot. Richards enters The Running Man competition, where he will spend a month pursued by Hunters with one goal: to find him and to kill him.
Wright has already proven that he’s more than just a comedic director, but you can see that his version of The Running Man is equal parts action and comedy. He co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Bacall, who he worked with previously on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This looks nothing like the original, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Powell looks like he’ll be a lot of fun in the lead role, and the same goes for Colman Domingo as the game show host previously played by the late Richard Dawson.
Also in the cast are Katy O’Brian, Daniel Ezra, Karl Glusman, Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Jayme Lawson, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, William H. Macy, David Zayas, and Sean Hayes.
SYNOPSIS: 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.
Paramount Pictures will release The Running Man in theaters and IMAX on November 14th.
