So far this year, movie fans are two-for-two on Stephen King adaptations. Both Oz Perkins’ The Monkey and Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk were both pretty good. But Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver) has more of an uphill climb, as his adaptation is both of a King story and a classic camp film. Wright is taking his shot at The Running Man.
Set in a near-futuristic (or maybe alternate) timeline, The Running Man is about a down-on-his-luck man named Ben Richards (Glen Powell from Twisters) who, desperate to help his family, goes to a cattle-call tryout for network game shows. The only show for which he is selected is also the one with the biggest payout – The Running Man.
The show challenges contestants to outrun and outsmart a group of hunters for 30 days, with the reward being a billion dollars (or New-Dollars, as they are called in this reality). If the hunters win, the runner dies. It doesn’t take long for Ben to realize that the show is rigged against him. The hunt takes place out in public, and citizens are offered rewards for tips that lead to the runner. So, basically, it’s the runner against the world. And network executive Dan Killian (Josh Brolin from Weapons) and host Bobby Thompson (Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo) are all in on their Most Dangerous Game.
Edgar Wright takes a different approach than the original with his imagining of The Running Man. He actually sticks much closer to King’s novel than its 1987 counterpart did, and therefore, Wright’s movie is more grounded in reality. There are no laser guns or spaceships. Hunters and runners use guns and grenades to fight and defend, but this just makes it more of a shoot-em-up action flick than a science fiction film. Although, it’s still plenty dystopian.
The world in which The Running Man exists is bleak and depressing, which goes with the entertainment angle of the different game shows in the universe. The public wants to be entertained to forget about their miserable existence, and The Running Man is the perfect gladiator-esque escape. They can either root for the underdog to escape (which no one ever does) or cheer for the hunters to end the game. But either way they go, the spectacle is the most important part.
One of the most fun things about the original The Running Man was the colorful characters, and unfortunately, there’s hardly any of that here. While Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 Ben battled hunters who wore ice skates and sang opera, Glen Powell’s most enigmatic foe looks like an ICE Agent (complete with the full-face mask). This is more of the grounded-in-reality aspect of the film, as it seems as if Wright’s hunters could really exist.
Which all leads to the movie’s biggest fault. It takes itself too seriously. Granted, there are funny moments, mostly delivered from one-liners or visual gags (Schwarzenegger’s face is on New Dollars, as much of a wink to his governorship of California as it is to his appearance in the original). But for the most part, the fun is gone. Explosions and knife fights can’t replace razor-sharp hockey sticks and shooting electric sparks, and the networks’ hunters can’t replace Sub Zero and Buzzsaw. The camp and cheese are completely missing, and what’s left is just a run-of-the-mill chase movie.
When the original was made in 1987, reality TV was in its infancy, so it was more of a statement about the public’s fascination with game shows and television entertainment in general. Wright takes this a step further and turns The Running Man (the in-movie TV show, not the movie itself) into a multimedia, interactive reality TV experience. Killian and his crew brainwash the viewers with deepfakes and editing, so the public believes exactly what they are told. Timely message.
Just as is the case with most of Edgar Wright’s movies, one of the biggest strengths of The Running Man is Wright’s choice of music. The musical selections are mostly gritty urban street funk and hip-hop mixed with electronic music. It fits the slightly-futuristic dystopia perfectly. Edgar Wright knows his tunes.
The Running Man isn’t quite the triumph that one would expect coming from Edgar Wright. Sticking so close to the source material is its downfall, as taking away the foot clan villains strips the personality out of the movie. It’s just another bang-bang pow-pow kaboom movie now.
GRADE – C+
Rating: R for some gore, language, and strong violence
Running Time: 2 hours 13 minutes
Release Date: November 14, 2025
Studio: Paramount Pictures