British filmmaker Edgar Wright (“Baby Driver”) is taking on the ambitious task of remaking “The Running Man,” the original was an Arnold Schwarzenegger-led sci-fi action film from 1987 (the same year as “Predator“) that was loosely based on a Stephen King novel (published under King’s pen-name Richard Bachman) and sees our protagonist sign-up to a deadly game show for the life-changing prize money in a desperate attempt pay for medical treatment.
However, Wright isn’t looking to make a carbon copy of the previous feature outing and is taking a closer look at the King story, which means we’ll be seeing enough tweaks from the original making it less of a remake and more of a new interaction that audiences can get behind. This was highlighted in a new quote from Wright while speaking with Empire Magazine (including a first-look photo from the set, see above), where he sees the remake as more of “a very intense, dangerous road movie” as we’ll see Ben Richards having to survive “Hunters” over a period of 30 days in the wild.
READ MORE: ‘Barbarella’: Edgar Wright To Direct Sydney Sweeney, Jane Goldman To Co-Write Script
“One of the things about the book that I loved was the fact that Ben Richards is out in the world on his own, so it’s like the deadliest game of hide and seek,” Wright told Empire in their latest issue. “It does feel like making a road movie in a lot of ways: a very intense, dangerous road movie,” Wright adds. “Ben is moving through different environments and meeting different people as he tries to survive 30 days out in the wild.”
Leaning toward “The Most Dangerous Game” inspiration than what we saw in the 1980s version, given the wilderness angle here. That previous feature film adaptation took place in an abandoned part of the city that had been cleared out for the game show. We’re also expected to see the family-man angle which was completely erased and was the reason for Richards signing up for the game of death for quick cash.
With rising star Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Twisters”) taking on the Richards role (previously played by Schwarzenegger), Wright is comparing his transition to action star in “The Running Man” to Bruce Willis (once seen as the every-man action star) going from the comedy guy on “Moonlighting” to becoming the career-defining action guy in “Die Hard.”
“I felt it was important to see somebody who hadn’t really done something like this before,” explained Wright of his reasoning for the casting of Powell. “It’s similar to Bruce Willis, when he was still the guy from ‘Moonlighting’ before he did Die Hard, where that adds to the suspense.”
Wright’s sentiments here certainly come off as a really good mindset for a remake of this scale (also plenty of years between the two) and prepare audiences early on for quite the contrast between the two films.
The impressive supporting cast assembled by Wright includes Lee Pace, Josh Brolin, Michael Cera, William H. Macy, Emilia Jones, Katy O’Brian, Daniel Ezra, Karl Glusman, Jayme Lawson, David Zayas, Sean Hayes, and Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) taking on the role of Bobby Thompson, the charismatic host of the game show.
Paramount Pictures is set to release “The Running Man” on November 7, 2025, and we should see promotion by the studio at upcoming events such as CinemaCon next month in Las Vegas, and the San Diego Comic-Con in July.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://theplaylist.net/the-running-man-edgar-wright-glen-powell-20250310/&media=https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/10140134/FIRST-LOOK_EDGAR-WRIGHT_THE-RUNNING-MAN_REBOOT_.jpg&description=Edgar Wright shares differences in his new "The Running Man" movie and with compares star Glen Powell to Bruce Willis.){kind=link}