A Bleaker Running Man: Edgar Wright Channels King’s Novel

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for The Running Man (2025), directed by Edgar Wright. The film is not a sequel or remake of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie but instead a new adaptation of the Stephen King novel. The Bachman novel, so titled because King wrote it under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982, and the Wright movie are more similar in tone than the earlier film.

Stephen King originally published a few books under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in the late 1970s and early 1980s to see how many books he could sell before being exposed. King was unmasked as Bachman in 1984, but a number of his Bachman novels, such as The Running Man, remain in print and have been the basis for a handful of film and television projects. The Running Man was one of King’s faster novels, reportedly written in just one week, and tells the story of a dystopian game show.

The Running Man is set in a totalitarian United States in 2025—coincidentally, the year the movie is scheduled to come out—in which a cruel, ratings-driven game show has captured the attention of the masses. As described in the trailer, The Running Man features a weekly game in which “Runners” are targeted by a group of hired assassins, known as “Hunters.” The game is simultaneously a televised game of hide and seek, with viewers eagerly watching as Runners are “walked” from a standing start. Contestants take part in the game for different reasons, but mostly out of dire financial need.

The novel centers on Ben Richards, a married man living in a government-subsidized housing project nicknamed “Co-Op City” with his wife and dying daughter. After being blacklisted by the government and unable to find work, Richards takes the drastic step of becoming a Runner for the popular game show. In his introduction as an enemy of the state, Richards is given 12 hours to get away from the game area before Hunters are sent after him. It’s up to Ben and his wits to survive.

The rules of the game are simple: If a contestant can last 30 days, he wins $1 billion. Nobody has ever made it 30 days, and the record is 197 hours. But for every day a contestant stays alive, they can win money. For every Hunter he dispatches, he wins more money. The limited incentives for the shows, usually a matter of personal financial desperation, are run by the show’s host, Bobby Thompson. The worst part is knowing that every move is broadcast to a bloodthirsty nation, waiting for the contestant to die.

The book does, as is typical with King’s work, have a tragic ending. It is unclear from the trailer if Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall plan to go with King’s ending or create a new one of their own. The film had been in development for a while: Wright originally expressed interest in 2017, and in 2021, Paramount Pictures gave the project the green light. The choice to go with Wright, whose films include Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver, and Last Night in Soho, is a wise one: King’s original 1982 novel was not the same kind of slick, over-the-top sci-fi action film as the Schwarzenegger vehicle.

From the trailer, it’s clear that Wright and Bacall will be more faithful to the novel and King’s vision for the character of Ben Richards. Ben Richards is played by Glen Powell, who, despite his trademark grin and sense of humor, is cast believably in the role. Josh Brolin plays Dan Killian, the “mastermind” behind the game show, who coerces Ben into signing up. Ben is an instant hit with the American public once the game starts, making him a marked man.

Lee Pace plays Evan McCone, the top Hunter and Ben’s primary antagonist. Jayme Lawson plays Ben’s wife, Sheila. Colman Domingo plays Bobby Thompson, the host of the eponymous game show. Michael Cera is on hand in a curious role as Bradley Throckmorton, a rebel who has his agenda. Other supporting cast members include William H. Macy, David Zayas, Emilia Jones, Karl Glusman, Katy O’Brian, and Daniel Ezra.

King and Bachman fans have another potential dystopian treat to look forward to in 2025. The Long Walk, another dystopian novel written by King in 1979, also has a film adaptation in the works. That movie is scheduled for release on September 12, 2025, just two months before The Running Man’s November 7 release.

Both films are more than mere nostalgia pieces, with pointed messages about government oppression, public apathy, and a media machine that could easily depict the death of an innocent as thrilling entertainment.