The Running Man: Edgar Wright Directing Stephen King Adaptation Starring Glen Powell

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The Running Man: Edgar Wright Directing Stephen King Adaptation Starring Glen Powell

Edgar Wright will direct a remake of Stephen King’s The Running Man.

According to Variety, Paramount Pictures is moving forward with a remake of The Running Man. Wright will direct the film and came up with the story with Michael Bacall, while Bacall is writing the script.

Top: Gun Maverick’s Glen Powell has been tapped to star in the film, while Simon Kinberg, Nira Park, and Wright will produce. Powell’s casting was announced by Paramount Pictures at CinemaCon on Thursday, April 11, 2024.

What else do we know about The Running Man?

Written by King (originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), The Running Man came out in 1982. The novel was turned into a feature film in 1987 that was directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“In the year 2019, America is a totalitarian state where the favorite television program is The Running Man — a game show in which prisoners must run to freedom to avoid a brutal death,” the synopsis for the 1987 movie reads. “Having been made a scapegoat by the government, an imprisoned Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has the opportunity to make it back to the outside again by being a contestant on the deadly show, although the twisted host, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), has no intention of letting him escape.”

Along with Top Gun: Maverick, Powell is known for starring in 2003’s Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, 2014’s The Expendables 3, 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!!, and, most recently, 2023’s Anyone but You. He’ll soon be seen in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, which releases on Netflix this June, and Universal’s Twisters sequel, which arrives in July.

Wright has discussed remaking The Running Man for several years. The director is known for 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, 2007’s Hot Fuzz, 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 2013’s The World’s End, 2017’s Baby Driver, and, most recently, 2021’s Last Night in Soho.

The new Running Man movie does not yet have a release date.