Glen Powell is no stranger to high-impact action movie roles. But his latest project, the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation of Stephen King's The Running Man, might be his most punishing gig yet. The Hit Man star recently opened up about the toll filming the Edgar Wright movie took on his body, and let’s just say, it doesn’t sound like your average day at the office, but rather Top Gun levels of intense.
In an interview about the release of Running Man posted to Rotten Tomatoes’ official TikTok, Powell broke down the bruises and beatdowns he endured while playing Ben Richards in the upcoming remake of the classic King novel. The Anyone But You veteran explained:
We got beat up on this movie, that’s for sure. I knew going into this one, I mean, the stakes of this movie could not be higher, and the character I play, Ben Richards, is taking real-world hits. Gravity is a thing. The punches are real. The bullets are real.
That’s not promo fluff. The Hidden Figures veteran is the kind of actor who leans all the way in. You could see it in Top Gun: Maverick, as he endured Tom Cruise’s intense boot camp and training in real fighter jets. Now, swap jets for explosions, high falls, and chaos on foot, and you start to get an idea of what The Running Man is serving up. Powell continued:
I knew that my body was going to get punished, so I just made sure to try to fortify as best as possible. But we definitely still took some licks.
This isn’t just "run through a fake explosion and go home with a paycheck" territory. This is fall-off-buildings, dodge-real-pyro, jump-from-fast-moving-vehicles mayhem. And Powell was here for all of it. The Twisters star added:
I mean, again, we’re falling off of buildings, and we’re jumping through explosions and jumping off of things – off of very fast-moving objects. We do it all in this movie. I honestly was thinking about this, I don’t know if we missed one. I think we kind of covered the gamut of crazy stunts.
That quote tells you everything you need to know: Powell’s not just acting in this movie, in a lot of ways, he’s surviving it.
The Running Man is based on Stephen King's 1982 novel, published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The upcoming science fiction movie follows Ben Richards, a guy forced to join a deadly game show where the only prize is staying alive. With Edgar Wright—the mind behind Scott Pilgrim vs. the World—directing, you can expect a smart and stylish twist on the whole dystopian sci-fi thing. From the recently released first trailer, it’s clear that this remake is quite different from the campy 1987 version with Schwarzenegger, which I still think is awesome.
The Texas-born A-lister may have just signed up for one of the most physically demanding roles of his career, and his career already included flying Navy jets. Between the relentless stunt work, real-deal action scenes, and the Everybody Wants Some!! performer’s full-throttle commitment, The Running Man is shaping up to be something truly special. If Glen Powell says it beat him up, I believe him. And honestly? I’m so ready to watch every over-the-top second of it.
Despite all the physical hell its stars were put through, based on Wright's past work, I think viewers can expect some laughs along with the action in the upcoming 2025 movie release. But if you've read the super dark ending of The Running Man's book, something the '80s film skipped over entirely, you may be torn about wanting to see that on screen. I was a bit iffy at first, but after thinking it over, I’ve changed my mind and hope they go for that dark ending in this adaptation.
So, get ready for this action-packed and actually intense time, folks. The Running Man is set to hit theaters on November 7, 2025!
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