Glen Powell might seem like he’s everywhere these days. He, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Brisket charmed audiences while tornado wrangling in Twisters and discussing Brat Summer. Powell and Sydney Sweeney also resurrected rom coms at the box office after Powell helped Tom Cruise save the box office in general with Top Gun: Maverick. The current reigning leading man isn’t making predictable moves, however. He is now filming the absurd Chad Powers series, and he’s also gearing up to go through hell in a Stephen King story.
Make that a relaunch of a movie that has already happened back in the late 1980s. The Running Man originally starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, arguably at the height of his fame and smack dab in between the first two The Terminator movies. Powell is sitting at a similar point in the same type of trajectory in a more diversified career, but let’s talk about the differences that we might expect from The Running Man as a relaunch.
Plot
To get this out of the way first: apologies, but rumors have been debunked regarding whispers that Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney will appear in this project, too. On a more concrete note, this version of The Running Man will be directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Ant-Man), and filming will begin this fall in London at the same time that Powell will be finishing his degree at the University of Texas via distance learning. Powell will have to do some commuting, but he revealed to IndieWire that “Edgar has been very nice about letting me finish my degree in the middle of his massive movie.”
As King’s Constant Readers will recall, the 1987 film retooled King’s 2025-set novel, which he wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. That book followed protagonist Ben Richards, who signed up for Games Network’s The Running Man TV show to buy medicine for his sick child. That might not sound too far out of the realm of current times, but the story was written in a dystopian light by King, who also ended the book with Richards crashing an airplane into Games Network’s headquarters. We can assume that this moment will remain unfilmable in the new film, and in the older film, Richards found his way onto that game show in a different way: as a labor camp prisoner, he was forced to compete against his fellow prisoners.
Paramount Pictures has not yet clarified if their “relaunch” will take the from of a reimagining, a reboot, or a full-on remake, or if the story could be very different altogether. However and in late 2023 (and before the Powell casting broke, along with confirmation that Wright was directing), Wright spoke with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast and remarked about how he had been surprised while watching the Schwarzenegger movie because “they didn’t really adapt the book.” He added, “I like the film but I like the book more,” and “Nobody’s done that book.” It sure sounds like Wright will stick closer to the book than Paul Michael Glaser did in the 1980s.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that Wright has been eager to direct his own take on the subject matter, ever since Simon Kinberg first approached the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World helmer in 2017. So this film should be a real treat, since we know that Wright will be remaking with a purpose, not simply to make a carbon copy of what came before with a new It Actor.
Cast
Glen Powell. That might be enough for success, and again, no Sydney Sweeney joint project will be found here, but that’s alright. She will probably be in the ring this fall on a boxing film.
Release Date
Paramount will likely get this rolling as quickly as possible, although Powell’s schedule could be tricky. Optimistically, Fall 2025 seems possible, but Summer 2026 seems likelier.
Trailer
We cannot yet imagine what a trailer will look like, but in this 1987 version, Arnold says his trademark one-liner. Presumably, the reboot won’t include these words, so enjoy them in context while you can.