The original adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man is iconic in its own right. That being said, it was never a version loyal to the original text, so that made it ripe for the Edgar Wright directed 2025 movie that readapts the story for a modern audience. With that pedigree in mind, I didn’t know what to expect from a Glen Powell-led variant.
Ahead of watching the first trailer for Wright's new spin, co-written with Michael Bacall, I totally forgot to expect a Scott Pilgrim reunion in the cards. But as you'll see in the full-length clip above, Michael Cera pops up to fulfill the trifecta, as a wannabe revolutionary - complete with a...Super Soaker?
It actually makes a lot of sense, when you see he rigged some floors with electronic charges. Much like Edgar Wright's other action packed movies, Pilgrim included, the presence of bad ass action doesn't mean we don't get to have a little fun.
As for the rest of what we know about The Running Man, it’s pretty much what you’d expect - but through Mr. Wright’s killer eye for action and comedy. Glen Powell’s Ben Richards is still running for his life in the hellish version of reality TV.
Despite the traditional set up being alive and well, we do see some pretty huge differences here, as our hero has to survive 30 days of being tracked by various Hunters. Richards' motivations are also different, as instead of being the victim of a vicious cover up, our new friend with an attitude finds himself staring down the barrel of a different sort of threat: dystopia.
It's not all bad though, because as you can see below, Mr. Powell gets to use those skills of disguise he picked up in 2023's Hit Man:
Those changes connect straight back the source material, which you may see at times being credited to author Richard Bachman. For those of you who may not know it, that was just Stephen King’s pseudonym to write more than one book a year.
The so called "Bachman Books" also happened to be King's works of darker, dystopian fiction - which we’ve also seen through the trailer for The Long Walk. Of course, if you know The Running Man's super dark book ending, you're probably asking how in the hell they're going to get away with that!
I won't spoil it for anyone, but I wouldn't count on getting Stephen King's pitch black finale. Modern historical events have pretty much ruled that out; and how could you end a movie where Michael Cera wields a Psycho Hydro water gun with...those events?
The Running Man sprints into theaters on November 7th, in various premium formats to boot! So you can bet your ass I'll be locking in for a 4DX showing, hoping that the seat mounted water cannons get in on Michael Cera's electrifying hero moment.
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