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 take on the material began filming with Glen Powell of Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and Twisters in the lead role. Production wrapped in the early months of this year, with the movie aiming for a November 7th theatrical release. While we wait to see how this new movie has turned out, Schwarzenegger has said in an interview that he’s hoping the remake will be better than the original.
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.
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; and William H. Macy of Fargo and Boogie Nights.
JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray was at CinemaCon a couple of months ago to witness the first trailer and reports that Edgar Wright, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, and Glen Powell were all in attendance. “As suggested previously, the movie is about the “runners” being on the run for a month all over the world while being hunted, as it’s being documented on a reality show. Domingo is the host, Brolin is the show mastermind.” Here’s his description of the trailer: Set in a dystopian future. No one has ever survived The Running Man. Glen Powell’s daughter is sick and he needs money. The film has an epic scope – the design of the show where Domingo hosts is reminiscent of the original, but the scope is very different as the lead is running all over the world, and regular people are trying to kill him too. One set piece is set on a plane as the pilots try to kill him and they all flip around the cabin. Also looks like it could be R-Rated and has LOADS of action. Very much Glen Powell’s launch as a Tom Cruise style star.
During an interview with CBR, Schwarzenegger said, “I love the idea that they’re doing a sequel to Running Man, or a remake. I don’t know what it’s going to be, but I always felt when we did Running Man that it would have been great if we would have been better prepared for this movie, if we would have had more money for this movie, and if we would have had then… the visual effects, the technology of visual effects, that they have today, all of those things I wished after the movie came out, I felt like it could have been better. It was great, but it could have been better, and I think that they have a good chance now with the new Running Man to make it better. And I hope, for their sake and for my sake, I hope that they will be successful.“
Do you think the Running Man remake has a chance to be better than the Schwarzenegger movie? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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