Key Highlights of The Running Man Reboot
- Glen Powell’s casting as Ben Richards in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man required the personal approval of author Stephen King.
- King made his final decision after watching Powell’s recent film Hitman, leaving the actor anxiously waiting overnight to see if he still had the part.
- Director Edgar Wright promises the new film will be a more faithful adaptation of King’s dark 1982 novel, a sharp contrast to the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster.
- The film’s aesthetic is described as a modern dystopian blend of UFC and American Idol, with the deadly game sprawling across the real world instead of a confined arena.
The King’s Crucial Verdict
During a panel at New York Comic Con, actor Glen Powell revealed the nerve-wracking 24 hours that determined his future as the star of Edgar Wright’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Running Man. After Wright officially offered him the lead role of Ben Richards, the celebration was cut short by a daunting condition.
“He’s like, ‘You’re my Ben Richards.’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’ Later that night, you’re like, ‘By the way, you have to be approved by Stephen King,’” Powell recounted. “He’s gonna watch Hitman tonight, so I had to wait overnight for Stephen King to watch Hitman and hope that I still had the role in the morning.”
Fortunately for Powell, King gave his blessing, paving the way for a production that aims to finally do justice to the author’s original vision.
A Faithful Adaptation Fans Have Waited For
Edgar Wright, a long-time fan of the novel, expressed his excitement to bring a truer version of the story to the screen. He explained that he read the book as a teenager before seeing the iconic 1987 film and always felt a huge part of the story was left untold.
“My favorite remakes are ones that kind of do something different from the other one,” Wright stated. “So this is not an attempt to remake that film. This is something that’s more faithful to the book.”
This commitment to authenticity was validated by King himself, who read and approved the screenplay co-written by Wright and Michael Bacall. According to Wright, King praised the script for being faithful enough to please fans while keeping him “on my toes and excited.”
Unleashing a New Kind of Hero
Glen Powell described his character, Ben Richards, as the “ultimate underdog,” a regular man forced to fight an oppressive system to provide for his family. To capture the character’s desperation, Wright pushed Powell to explore a darker side of his personality.
“He’s like, I need bad mood Glen. I need to turn on something a little different in you,” Powell shared. “This is a man who’s just trying to provide for his family in a place that doesn’t allow him to do that, and there’s a growing frustration and anger there.”
This gritty, character-driven approach extends to the film’s world-building. Unlike the previous film’s contained arena, this version sees the deadly game of “hide and seek” spill out into the entire world, with 168 different locations and sets. Wright noted that the explosion of reality television since the 1980s heavily influenced the movie’s look and feel, creating a chillingly plausible vision of a future where survival is entertainment.
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