News broke nearly a year ago (April 2024) that Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone but You star Glen Powell was cast to play the lead role of Ben Richards in the upcoming reimagining of 1987’s The Running Man. Powell will fill the iconic running shoes of the original film’s protagonist, Richards, who was first portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and fans don’t have much longer to wait and see Powell’s take on the Stephen King character. Powell revealed on social media that filming had officially wrapped, and he shared an image of himself and director Edgar Wright to celebrate the occasion. Powell wrote in his Instagram post:
\
“That’s a picture wrap on ‘The Running Man.’ All my love and appreciation goes out to our incredible cast and crew who have worked tirelessly on it. Can’t wait for the rest of y’all to see what we’ve been shooting…. Much more coming soon!”
The Running Man screenplay was co-written by Wright and Michael Bacall. However, the new film will reportedly be more faithful to King’s original novel of the same name. King’s book was published over 40 years ago in 1982 under the author’s pen name/pseudonym, Richard Bachman. In addition to Powell, the actor behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest baddie, Thanos, will portray The Running Man’s cunning antagonist, Killian.
Related
‘The Running Man’ Director Explains Why Glen Powell Was the Right Leading Man
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
Yes, the charismatic Dan Killian — Damon Killian was originally played by the late Richard Dawson — falls into the capable hands of the Oscar-nominated Josh Brolin. Wright felt that casting was crucial to ensuring his reimagining of 1987’s Running Man, and the director assembled an exciting cast to surround Powell and Brolin, including Katy O’Brian, William H. Macy, Colman Domingo, and Michael Cera.
‘The Running Man’ Director Teases His Reimagining Is More Like a “Road Movie”
Edgar Wright’s The Running Man has a lot to live up to because the 1987 film is sometimes regarded as one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best movies. The distinction is a bit of a misnomer, though, based solely on the numbers, because the original is hardly one of Schwarzenegger’s highest-rated flicks on Rotten Tomatoes (67% Tomatometer and 61% Popcornmeter).
The Running Man didn’t perform well at the box office ($38.1 million) either. Fortunately, Wright’s take on Stephen King’s source material won’t regurgitate what director Paul Michael Glaser’s (Starsky & Hutch) interpretation presented back in the ’80s. Rather, expect more of a “road movie” feel from the 2025 version. Wright said in an interview with Empire earlier in March:
“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. It does feel like making a road movie in a lot of ways: a very intense, dangerous road movie. Ben is moving through different environments and meeting different people as he tries to survive 30 days out in the wild.”
Edgar Wright’s highly anticipated The Running Man opens in theaters on Nov. 7. However, until Glen Powell takes up Arnold Schwarzenegger’s massive mantle as Ben Richards on the big screen, fans can revisit the totalitarian state in the original 1987 film on AMC+ and Philo at the time of this writing. The Running Man is also available to buy or rent on all the usual VOD platforms, and this underrated Schwarzenegger entry is definitely worth watching.
Sources: Instagram (@glenpowell), Empire, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes
You can view the original article HERE.
