Edgar Wright<\/strong> arrives later this year. Just in time too, because it feels like our real world has finally caught up with King\u2019s dystopian vision.<\/p>\nWright teased his new version of The Running Man<\/em> at a New York Comic Con panel on Friday, alongside stars Glen Powell <\/strong>(who plays protagonist Ben Richards) and Lee Pace<\/strong> (who plays the villainous McCone). The panel played several exclusive clips from the movie, including showing Richards going through the application process for the Colman Domingo<\/strong>-hosted reality show and being told he\u2019s \u201cthe angriest man to ever audition.\u201d A second clip introduced TV producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin<\/strong>), who tells Richards to let that anger out on-screen.<\/p>\nMore from Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\nJosh Brolin and Colman Domingo in ‘Running Man’Ross Ferguson\/Paramount Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cSince 1982, we\u2019ve had nearly 30 years of reality shows that are much closer to what\u2019s in the book,\u201d Wright said on stage. \u201cSo it was an amazing thing making this movie, picking things from reality shows from all over the world. The game show set looks like a cross between UFC and American Idol<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nWright was a fan of King\u2019s novel even before he saw the Schwarzenegger movie, and remembers being disappointed by how loose the adaptation was. Back in 2017, when asked by a fan on Twitter about what movie he would be willing to remake, Wright named The Running Man<\/em>. Producer Simon Kinberg<\/strong> was listening, and followed up with Wright about it a few years back.<\/p>\nOne of Wright\u2019s main creative choices is that unlike the \u201887 movie, which kept all of its action relatively contained, the new version of The Running Man<\/em> sends Powell\u2019s Richards and the other contestants outside to run as far as they can from the \u201chunters\u201d led by Pace\u2019s McCone. They have the entire world to hide in, but also that world is full of dangers.<\/p>\n\n\nGlen Powell and Michael Cera in ‘Running Man’Ross Ferguson\/Paramount Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThe coolest part about this one, that I\u2019m really excited about, is how Edgar decided to be loyal to the book and take this out into the real world. So it feels like the entire world is hunting this guy,\u201d Powell said. \u201cThere\u2019s not just a group of hunters. Normal citizens can record and report you, they can take you out. So there\u2019s this ever-present feeling of tension that\u2019s throughout the entire movie, it\u2019s relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell continued, \u201cbut as we know, tensions and comedy are married together in a lot of ways. So when you have a guy like E.W., who really knows how to marry those moments together, you get a tonal cinematic\u00a0 feast where you\u2019re simultaneously watching a guy in danger for his life and simultaneously laughing at the circumstances. There\u2019s this really bright-colored world of the game show around this guy struggling for his life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nEdgar Wright on the set of ‘Running Man’Ross Ferguson\/Paramount Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe movie\u2019s expansive scope came with challenges, as Wright freely admitted at the panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a teenager, when I watched the \u201887 film I was like, \u2018Oh why didn\u2019t they go out into the world, like in the book?\u2019 Now, having done a very long shoot with 170 locations, I realized, \u2018Oh yeah, those guys were smart,\u2019\u201d Wright said. \u201cBecause it was exhausting! I\u2019m proud of it, it\u2019s a very expansive movie, but it was ambitious.\u201d<\/p>\n
This version of The Running Man<\/em> doesn\u2019t totally disown the Schwarzenegger interpretation, though. This movie contains some homages to the \u201887 film \u2014 namely, the former governor of California appears on currency.<\/p>\n\u201cWe called him before we started filming, because he had given us permission to put him on the money. I told him we put him on the $100, and he said, \u2018I am very happy about that,\u2019\u201d Wright said, finishing with his best Austrian accent.<\/p>\n
There are also some nods to Wright\u2019s own previous work. Namely, The Running Man<\/em> marks the director\u2019s first live-action collaboration with Michael Cera<\/strong> since 2010\u2019s cult-classic comic-book adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World<\/em> (although Cera did reprise the role via voiceover for Netflix\u2019s 2023 animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off<\/em>, which Wright produced).<\/p>\n\n\nMichael Cera in ‘Running Man’Ross Ferguson\/Paramount Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cI\u2019m excited for you guys to see Michael Cera in the movie,\u201d Wright says. \u201cHe\u2019s such an amazing blast of energy. And when we worked on Scott Pilgrim<\/em>, he turned 21 on set. So to work with him 15 years later, when he\u2019s a father of two, was a nice reunion. Him and Glen together make such a fun and unlikely double act.\u201d<\/p>\nPowell added, \u201cCera\u2019s amazing! It was also fun, as a fan of Scott Pilgrim<\/em>, to watch you guys go down memory lane together.\u201d<\/p>\nWright did submit the script to King for approval before filming started, which he compared to showing homework to a very discerning English teacher (King\u2019s job before he turned novelist). Thankfully, the renowned author was a fan of what he read.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved the adaptation, which was both a blessing and a curse,\u201d Wright said. \u201cHe raved so much about the script that I was like, \u2018Oh sh-t, now we gotta make it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n‘Running Man’Ross Ferguson\/Paramount Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKing\u2019s commentary, according to Wright, was that the new movie is \u201cmore faithful to the book to keep the fans happy, but different enough to keep me on my toes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Powell had to wait a little longer for King\u2019s approval of his casting, in addition to the script.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only interaction I\u2019ve had [with King] is Edgar offered me this movie saying, \u2018You\u2019re my Ben Richards,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Let\u2019s go!\u2019\u201d Powell recalled. But later that night he was like, \u2018By the way, you have to be approved by Stephen King.\u2019 I was like, \u2018How does that happen?\u2019 He said, \u2018He\u2019s gonna watch Hit Man tonight.\u2019 So I had to wait overnight for Stephen King to watch Hit Man to see if I still had the role in the morning. He loved it, thank God!\u201d<\/p>\n
The casting is important here because Powell is more than just the main character of the Running Man. According to Wright, the entire movie is told from his viewpoint.<\/p>\n\n\nGlen Powell in ‘Running Man’Ross Ferguson\/Paramount Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cWhat\u2019s amazing is that Glen is in every scene of the film,\u201d Wright said. \u201cThere\u2019s only one scene without him, and it\u2019s a TV show he\u2019s watching. I wanted it to feel very intense, that were with this character the whole way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Combined with the wide range of locations used for the wide-ranging story, the singular focus on Powell\u2019s character sometimes led the actor to crazy situations. A great example came in the third and final exclusive clip shown at the panel, in which Powell ends up dangling off the side of a building in his underwear \u2014 a scene filmed in Bulgaria in February! But the hard-working star was up to the challenge, and then some.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalk about someone who gives 1,000 percent, and makes it look easy,\u201d Pace said of his costar. \u201cHe shows up every day with a level of commitment that if you\u2019re showing up to that same set, you\u2019re gonna bring the same commitment. In a lot of our scenes, both of the characters are pretty stressed out. The work is real, but the cameras cut, and then you\u2019ve got someone you can joke with on set, which makes those long days enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Running Man<\/em> hits theaters on Nov. 14.<\/p>\n\nBest of Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\nSign up for Gold Derby’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\nClick here to read the full article. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen King first published The Running Man (under his alias Richard Bachman) in 1982, and a movie version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger hit theaters five years later. But King\u2019s story of a dark future where down-on-their-luck Americans can compete in a deadly reality show for a huge cash prize had always been set in 2025, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2083018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[317505,345297,345300,345301,310317,319414,343687,52282],"class_list":["post-2083017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-arnold-schwarzenegger","tag-ben-richards","tag-colman-domingo","tag-edgar-wright","tag-glen-powell","tag-michael-cera","tag-scott-pilgrim","tag-stephen-king"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Edgar-Wright-Glen-Powell-tease-their-action-packed-\u2018The-Running-Man.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2083019,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083017\/revisions\/2083019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2083018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2083017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2083017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}