A masterful portrait of an alternative, not-too-distant future in America, The Running Man was first published in 1982 under Stephen King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman and later reprinted under King’s own name in 1985 as part of The Bachman Books.
In it, King envisioned an authoritarian world run by an all-powerful corporation called the Network, where wealth (or lack of it) ruthlessly divides the population. A permanent underclass ripe for exploitation is plugged into nonstop Free-Vee, television programming featuring violent game shows where desperate contestants risk life and limb in humiliating and often dangerous stunts for cash. The deadliest game of all is “The Running Man.”
Into this world comes Ben Richards, a construction worker who has run afoul of the Network and is permanently banned from working for their subsidiaries — the only opportunity for employment at all. Previously adapted for the screen in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Paul Michael Glaser, The Running Man returns to the big screen in an all-new adaptation directed by award-winning filmmaker Edgar Wright, with a script by longtime collaborator Michael Bacall and Wright.
“When I was a teenager, I was a huge Stephen King fan — I still am,” says director by Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead). “I must have been 14 when I read The Running Man for the first time, and it really stayed with me. I saw the 1987 film version a few years after that, and while I really enjoyed it, I was struck by how loose an adaptation it was. So, for years, rather than remake that film, I’d wanted to do a new adaptation of the story that stays closer to the book that left such an impact on me, but the rights were never available.”
Then, a few years ago, Simon Kinberg, the Oscar-nominated producer of The Martian and the X-Men franchise, unexpectedly approached Wright to see if he would be interested in directing an all-new version of the classic novel.
For Kinberg, the idea of pairing Wright’s uniquely electric filmmaking style with such a colorful source material, felt like the perfect match.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Edgar’s work forever and have been trying to get him to direct a movie for me. With The Running Man, I knew it was finally the exact right match,” Kinberg recalls. “Partly, I knew that because I read a tweet from him saying that The Running Man is the only remake he would ever consider. But more, I knew that the combination of kinetic action, emotional character-centred storytelling, and the opportunity to create a cool, unique, incendiary version of the future – that looks somewhat like our own – would be the perfect material for him. I reached out to him with fingers crossed.”
The answer, as Wright recalls, was an enthusiastic yes. “It doesn’t often happen that something lands in my inbox that I’m already interested in,” Wright says. “I had long imagined a film that took the action out of the controlled atmosphere of the first movie and into the world at large, as it is in the book.”
Wright’s longtime producing partner Nira Park, with whom he has been collaborating since 2004’s cult hit Shaun of the Dead, also came on board – with The Running Man representing a turning point in both scale and personal significance.
“This film is the biggest film we’ve made together, and with the release date locked in from the start, we had less prep and post than we’re used to,” shares Park. “We knew it would be a challenge, but it also carried a different kind of weight – Stephen King is one of Edgar’s heroes, he loved the book since he was a teenager and he wanted a new adaptation to do it justice.”
Wright quickly got in touch with Bacall, with whom he had previously worked on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. “When Edgar asked me to take a look at the book, I was struck by the raw emotional intensity of the hero, Ben Richards,” Bacall shares. “It jumped off the page.”
The screenplay was crafted by Michael Bacall (21 Jump Street, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and the team of Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright, based on the novel by Stephen King.
Unlike the first screen adaptation, which unfolds mostly within an enclosed arena, Wright and Bacall’s version sends Richards across a vast landscape of densely populated cities, rural backroads, and deserted byways—journeying from his home in the fictional Co-Op City through New York and New England as he tries to reach Canada.
“The tagline from the original 1982 novel said ‘Welcome to America in 2025, when the best men don’t run for president—they run for their lives,” notes Wright. “The fact that the book was set in 2025 and we’re releasing the film this year is a coincidence, but a fortuitous one. We never actually specify the year in the movie; but we imagined that it would resemble the vision of the future that King dreamt up in 1982.”
As in the novel, the action is seen almost entirely from Ben’s point of view to turn up the dial on the suspense. “Just like Ben, the audience never knows what’s coming next,” says Bacall. “We embraced the book’s premise that the entire country is the arena and the public is participants in the game. Bringing the audience along for the journey makes them feel Ben’s righteous anger. We were both excited to dive in and see where that led.”
In Wright and Bacall’s hands, The Running Man became an intense and unpredictable action thriller where anyone can be the enemy — and more than likely is. “All Ben Richards wants to do is earn enough money to get medicine for his sick child,” says Wright. “Moving through different environments and meeting different people as he tries to survive becomes steadily more dangerous as Free-Vee watchers are turned against him by the Network’s incendiary propaganda and the rewards they offer for information on his whereabouts.”
Looming over the action of The Running Man is a monopoly more powerful than any government, with tentacles extending into every aspect of daily life.
“The Network is an exaggeration of real-life companies that have lots of different businesses in everything from groceries to media,” explains Wright. “We’ve taken it a stage further. The Network is one all-powerful corporation that controls everything. They know your employment history, your medical history, they know it all. Going up against the Network is a seemingly impossible task.”
Governing through intimidation, misinformation, and constant surveillance, the Network controls the world. “They produce and distribute all the broadcast programming available,” says Bacall. “Every household is supplied a state-mandated television set subsidised by the Network. Free-Vee is a perfect vector for their propaganda. And you don’t just watch Free-Vee — it watches you back.”
The most popular programs are the game shows in which members of the public can win cash prizes. “All of them are cruel and most of them are extremely dangerous,” says Wright. “‘The Running Man’ is the deadliest of all. Three ‘runners’ try to survive for 30 days as they are pursued by a highly trained death squad. They can win cash prizes of up to a billion dollars if they make the full 30 days. It’s the most treacherous game of hide and seek imaginable. Wherever you go, millions of people are trying to stop you.”
Since no one has survived the full 30 days, anyone who agrees to be on the show is effectively signing their own death warrant. “And it’s the most popular show in the country,” says Wright. Other shows on the Network that appear in the film include “Spin the Wheel”, another deadly game show with a cameo by Sean Hayes as the host, and “The Americanos”, a Kardashian-esque reality show led by more fun cameos in Debi Mazar and Catherine Cohen. “When we were writing, Michael and I talked a lot about reality TV and how the narrative can be massaged and manipulated. Stephen King foresaw the next four decades of how reality television develop in The Running Man. The film’s audience will discover that the narrative of the show is constantly being interfered with for maximum entertainment.”
At the beginning of the story, Ben Richards, played by Glen Powell, is a family man simply trying to survive. Recently fired, with a wife (played by Jayme Lawson), sick daughter and mounting bills, he auditions for a game show in a last desperate gamble to keep his family alive. He has no intention of risking his life, but after a series of assessments, Network executives earmark him as the ideal candidate for “The Running Man.”
“There’s a lot of anger in Ben after being blacklisted,” Wright says. “He’s stood up to bullies and was punished for doing the right thing. The easy thing for him in life would be to play along or follow the herd, but he can’t do that. Ben has a very short fuse when it comes to injustice, and that makes him a compelling runner.”
Powell’s relatable everyman quality, used to good advantage in films like Twisters and Top Gun: Maverick, is one of the things that made him the right actor for the role.
According to Bacall, Powell instinctively understood what Wright needed from him. “It’s a demanding role, both physically and emotionally,” the writer says. “He maintained an unbelievable level of intensity over several months. Glen is a very natural talent. It never feels like he’s acting. We really hit the jackpot.”
Powell was drawn to the story of an average man facing impossible odds, something he says he often gravitates to and feels all audiences can relate to. “Ben Richards is the ultimate underdog,” he continues. “He and his family live in a poverty-stricken area. Cathy, his 2-year-old daughter, is extremely sick. He can’t afford the medicine she needs, so he takes a wild swing at these game shows. When he proves himself to be angry, charismatic, and volatile, he gets roped into the deadliest of them all. He signs up knowing that he may not come back.”
According to Bacall, Powell instinctively understood what Wright needed from him. “It’s a demanding role, both physically and emotionally,” the writer says. “He maintained an unbelievable level of intensity over several months. Glen is a very natural talent. It never feels like he’s acting. We really hit the jackpot.”
Powell was drawn to the story of an average man facing impossible odds, something he says he often gravitates to and feels all audiences can relate to. “Ben Richards is the ultimate underdog,” he continues. “He and his family live in a poverty-stricken area. Cathy, his 2-year-old daughter, is extremely sick. He can’t afford the medicine she needs, so he takes a wild swing at these game shows. When he proves himself to be angry, charismatic, and volatile, he gets roped into the deadliest of them all. He signs up knowing that he may not come back.”
Set in an almost strangely familiar future, the film is a 600-mile odyssey that starts in the fictional Co-Op City and ends in Canada, passing through New York and New England along the way.
“Our intent was to craft an alternate reality,” says Wright. “The film features little technology that doesn’t exist in some form today. But while some things have progressed, others have regressed. In the affluent Uptown districts, everything is polished and functions flawlessly, while in the poorer areas, even the simplest devices fail, reflecting a world where advancement and decay coexist side by side. Nothing works like it once had or still should.”
Ben Richards is forced to go on a blockbuster journey that transforms him from everyman underdog to revolutionary hero in The Running Man.
Written 43 years ago, King’s novel still seems remarkably current to the director. “The exciting and, also, striking thing to me was that a book I’d read nearly 40 years ago felt alarmingly prescient now.” Wright continues, “We’ve had decades of reality TV since then, and the spectacle has only grown more intense and corrosive. The Running Man captures the same appetite for entertainment that blurs the line between reality and performance, manipulation and truth.”
Producers Kinberg and Park note that the film’s mix of spectacle, adrenaline, and sharp wit is what makes it such a ride – a crowd-pleasing adventure that also has something to say about the world we live in.
“First and foremost, we’d love the audience to have a great night at the movies, to go along for an intense but highly entertaining ride and leave the theater wearing a huge grin,” says Park. “If they find themselves inspired by Ben Richards’ ferocious moral clarity, even better.”
Kinberg adds, “The genius of King’s book is that it speaks to everyone because it’s ultimately about the underdogs in our society – which is as relevant now as it was 45 years ago when he wrote it. It’s easy to root for someone who’s been beaten down by the system, and even easier when that someone is Glen Powell, in the hands of Edgar’s vision. So, the hope is that audiences have a good time, and leave feeling more empowered, more enabled to stand up to a system that’s becoming harder and harder for more and more people, on all sides of the political spectrum.”
For his co-writer Bacall, being reunited with Wright was everything he anticipated. “We hit the ground running with total confidence on my part that whatever he did would go above and beyond what was on the page,” he says. “Working with Edgar, you see these elements layering on top of the script. That creates a fantastic depth that can’t always be brought to the page but is perfect for a visual medium. He’s a real master at that.”
The result is a film that is thrilling, thought-provoking, and hugely entertaining – a reminder of why great stories never lose their edge.
“What I love about the film is seeing our character go on this journey from everyman to revolutionary,” says Wright. “The ambitious part of the film is how expansive that journey is. I hope audiences enjoy the ride—it’s a roller coaster of thrills, but there’s also plenty to think about long after the credits roll.”
EDGAR WRIGHT, p.g.a. (Directed by, Screenplay by, Produced by) burst onto the scene with the groundbreaking British sitcom “Spaced,” instantly marking himself as a bold new creative voice. He followed with two back-to-back genre-defining hits: the RomZomCom Shaun of the Dead and the action-comedy Hot Fuzz, both made with longtime collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Wright then co-wrote, produced, and directed Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, and more. The film quickly became a cult phenomenon that continues to gain fans every year. Its legacy inspired the acclaimed animated series “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off,” which Wright produced and which reunited the original cast.
In 2013, Wright completed what became known as The Cornetto Trilogy with The World’s End. He followed with the stylish heist-thriller Baby Driver, which earned over $220 million worldwide, three Academy Award nominations, and a BAFTA for Best Editing.
Wright’s 2021 slate showcased his range, with the psychological thriller Last Night in Soho and the music documentary The Sparks Brothers, a heartfelt tribute to “the greatest band you’ve never heard of.” He is currently in post-production on The Running Man for Paramount, screenplay co-written and directed by Wright, based on the novel by Stephen King (under the Richard Bachman pseudonym). The film stars Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, and reunites Wright with Michael Cera.
Beyond film and television, Wright has directed commercials for brands such as SquareSpace, Hotels.com, Nike, and McDonald’s, as well as music videos for artists including Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk, Beck, and Mint Royale.
MICHAEL BACALL (Screenplay by) Michael Bacall was born in Los Angeles, where he began working as an actor at 9 years old. He slowly built a resume of guest roles on classic TV shows, often as a convincing nerd or unconvincing bully, then grew into portraying the occasional stoner and becoming an all-around utility player (usually on the bench). He attended UCLA on a Free Willy residuals scholarship, then wrote and co-starred in the cult indie-film Manic. Known for genre-blending versatility, Bacall went on to write 50 million unproduced screenplays, and critically beloved films such as 21/22 Jump Street, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and Project X, recommended in its NYT review for a Nobel Prize.
Bacall lives in Los Angeles with his family of overpowered amplifiers.
