The first trailer for Edgar Wright’s The Running Man was released earlier today, and the film looks like it will be a lot of fun. The Running Man is based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, which was previously adapted into the 1987 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. While this new film will more closely resemble the original novel, the team still reached out to Schwarzenegger before they started shooting.
“We wanted to give a nod to the great man in the film — I’m not going to say what that was — and we sort of needed his approval for it,” Wright told Entertainment Weekly. “Glen has been in film with Arnold; he was in Expendables 3, and he knew [his son] Patrick. I said, ‘We have to talk to Arnold.’ It was an incredible call. Obviously, sometimes, when people do newer adaptations of films, it’s a bit of a touchy situation. He actually said to us, ‘Out of all of my films that I’ve made, I’ve always felt that’s one that would be a worthy remake, and I think you guys are all set up to do that.’ He basically gave us his blessing, and it was an incredibly sweet thing to do.“
As for what that “nod” could be, we may already have our answer. The trailer features a quick moment in which a woman is seen with a handful of $100 bills, and who appears on those bills? None other than Schwarzenegger himself. You can see that moment in the trailer embedded below at 0:26.
Wright is a big fan of Stephen King, and even read The Running Man before he saw the Schwarzenegger movie. But when he finally saw it, he was surprised it was such a significant departure from the novel. “In the ’87 film, they’re mostly in an arena setting,” he said. “What struck me in the book when I read it as a teenager is, [the] contestants are just out in the world, so it’s almost like the deadliest game of hide and seek. You, as a contestant, can go anywhere or do anything. The 1987 film is a pretty loose kind of adaptation of the material. The stuff on the game show is closest to the book, and then it’s completely doing its own thing. I always thought, oh, most of the book has not been adapted.“
The official synopsis for The Running Man: “In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television—a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward. Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.“
The film will hit theaters on November 7.
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edgar Wright, The Running Man (2025)
