Glen Powell Does ‘The Running Man’ in First Trailer for Edgar Wright’s Sci-Fi Action Adaptation
Today, Paramount Pictures dropped the first trailer for Edgar Wright’s sci-fi action adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Running Man, starring Glen Powell and it’s a sprint.
Based on King’s 1982 novel (under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), 1987 saw director John McTiernan take on the material in 1987 with superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards but for 2025 Powell (Twisters) takes the reins.
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 (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 also stars Academy Award nominee William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson and Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo. Wrights directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Bacall. Simon Kinberg, Nira Park, and Wright produce with George Linder, James Biddle, Rachael Prior, Audrey Chon, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, andAndrew Lary as executive producers.
The Running Man sprints into theaters on November 7. Here is the trailer.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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