The Running Man Has Screened, And The First Reactions For The Glen Powell-Led Movie Delve Into How It ‘Bottled Magic With Stephen King’s Novel’

While the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led film adaptation of The Running Man may have its fans, the fact of the matter is it’s arguably the least ‘Stephen King’ Stephen King film out there. Nearly 40 years after its release, we’re now getting a more faithful adaptation of King’s 1982 novel for the big screen starring Glen Powell as Ben Richards. The Running Man doesn’t open on the 2025 movies schedule until next week, but early reactions for the Edgar Wright-directed movie are now trickling in to share thoughts on how the source material was handled this time around.

Taking place in a dystopia near-future, The Running Man follows Powell’s Richards as he agrees to take part in the same-named TV show, where he must survive being hunted by professional assassins for 30 days in order to receive his full cash reward. The Mary Sue’s Rachel Leishman was pleased with how the Powell/Wright collaboration turned out, saying:

JimmytotheO from JoBlo also liked how The Running Man turned out, particularly for how different it is from the previous film adaptation, although he did mention the runtime and cast size is a bit too much. In his words:

In her X thread, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff commended Edgar Wright for making a more faithful adaptation of The Running Man that also felt like unique entry in his filmography that’s “both bombastic high-energy fun, and also just grounded enough to ensure you care and take the story home with you after the credits roll.” Nemiroff also called Glen Powell the “perfect Ben Richards,” then had this to say about his co-star Jayme Lawson:

Jayme Lawson plays Sheila Richards, Ben’s wife, and the cast also includes Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones and William H. Macy, among others. Drew Taylor from The Wrap can also be counted among The Running Man’s fans, praising the upcoming movie with these words:

There were also a couple of celebrities who had nice things to say about The Running Man. Patton Oswalt wrote the following after his screening:

Then there’s Simon Pegg, who had the below text accompanying a picture he posted of himself next to Edgar Wright and Nick Frost, his collaborators on the Cornetto Trilogy:

This early buzz on The Running Man indicates that it’ll make for a fun watch in theaters and, at the bare minimum, successfully handled telling a story that more closely adhered to Stephen King’s original novel. Even King himself enjoyed it, calling it a “bipartisan thrill ride.” You can judge it for yourself starting Friday, November 14.