Glen Powell Stars in Edgar Wright’s Brutal Reboot of The Running Man
Stephen King’s dystopian thriller gets a faithful, ferocious update—with Powell running for his life in a future that hits way too close to home.
July 1 EST: There’s no snarky one-liner. No neon mohawk. No wink to the camera. This isn’t that The Running Man. Edgar Wright’s new take on the Stephen King classic looks more like a gut punch than a guilty pleasure—and Glen Powell is right in the crosshairs.
The trailer dropped at CinemaCon today, and it’s already got fans talking. Not because it’s full of retro cheese (it’s not), but because Powell—sweaty, wide-eyed, and seriously jacked—is sprinting through what might be his most intense role yet. He’s Ben Richards, a man dropped into a televised death match across a crumbling 2025 America. The prize? Survival. Maybe.
Goodbye Camp, Hello Chaos
For anyone still picturing Arnold Schwarzenegger in spandex yelling “I’ll be back” while flame-throwing game show hosts, time to reset your expectations. Wright isn’t rebooting the 1987 cult flick. He’s rewriting the playbook. The original, based very loosely on King’s dystopian novel (published under the Richard Bachman pseud), became a kitschy ‘80s staple. Fun? Sure. Faithful? Not remotely.
Wright’s version is different—leaner, meaner, and way closer to the book. Think Children of Men meets The Hunger Games with a Black Mirror hangover. According to Entertainment Weekly, King himself signed off on the new script, which should tell you how far this thing is from the disco-dystopia of yesteryear.
Glen Powell Goes Full Action Star
Let’s talk about Powell for a second. After charming his way through rom-coms and stealing scenes in Top Gun: Maverick, he’s now diving face-first into fireballs and urban warzones. He told EW the shoot was like doing “Die Hard in ten minutes” on repeat—and yeah, you can tell. The trailer is packed with stunt-heavy chaos: elevators collapsing, drones overhead, grenades flying, and Powell doing his own Tom Cruise-worthy parkour.
Literally. He called up Cruise for advice. No joke.
And the vibe? Totally different than his usual smooth-operator persona. Powell’s Richards isn’t a smirking rogue. He’s scared. Cornered. Furious. Which, for an actor gunning to break the “just a pretty face” curse, could be career-defining stuff.
The Cast Is Absolutely Stacked
Wright didn’t stop at a glow-up for Richards. He’s packed the supporting cast with some serious heat. Josh Brolin steps in as Dan Killian, the manipulative TV exec running the deadly game, and by the sound of it, he’s playing it full Machiavellian maniac. Colman Domingo plays the show’s host (Bobby T) with what looks like a terrifying mix of charm and menace.
Then there’s Lee Pace, Daniel Ezra, Emilia Jones, Katy O’Brian, Jayme Lawson, Michael Cera, and William H. Macy—a wild mix of talent that suggests this won’t just be shootouts and sprinting. There’s room for weirdness, for satire, for human moments. And maybe even heartbreak.
What It’s Really Saying (Because Yes, It Has a Point)
Here’s the thing: this version of The Running Man isn’t just flexing muscle. It’s got something to say. In 2025, reality TV looks less absurd than ever, and a story about state-sponsored slaughter-as-entertainment lands differently in an era of algorithmic doomscrolling and attention-as-currency.
Polygon called the trailer “a darker socio-political backdrop” than fans might expect, and that’s no accident. Wright, who built his career on pop-savvy genre flicks like Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver, is clearly swinging bigger here. This isn’t satire. It’s a world that feels a little too close to ours.
Even Arnold’s on Board
In a classy full-circle moment, Arnold Schwarzenegger has given Wright and Powell his full blessing. “A worthy remake,” he called it, according to GamesRadar. And you know what? He’s right. Wright and Powell aren’t trying to replace him. They’re going for something else entirely—more raw, more real, and, maybe, more resonant.
The Countdown Is On
With filming wrapped since March and a November 7 theatrical release locked, expect the promo machine to ramp up fast. Cast interviews, BTS footage, a final trailer drop—it’s all coming. But even now, off that first look, The Running Man feels like more than just a big fall release.
It’s the rare remake that isn’t trying to ride nostalgia, but outrun it.
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A bi-coastal pop culture critic and former indie screenwriter, Gia covers Hollywood, streaming wars, and subculture shifts with razor wit and Gen Z intuition. If it’s going viral, she already knew about it.
