Directed by the always kinetic Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), this slick new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novel rips onto screens with Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You) starring as Ben Richards, a working-class everyman who’s just desperate enough to sign away his life for a chance to save his sick daughter. Because in the near-future hellscape of this movie, healthcare is a game show prize. America!
Take a look:
Here’s the setup: The Running Man is the most popular show on television, where contestants known as Runners are hunted by heavily armed, camera-loving psychopaths for 30 days straight. If they survive, they get rich. If they don’t—well, that just makes for better ratings. It’s like Survivor meets John Wick meets your worst anxiety dream, all piped straight into the homes of a bloodthirsty audience with too many screens and not enough empathy.
Powell’s Ben Richards starts as a reluctant player, but his street smarts, stubbornness, and zero tolerance for BS make him the underdog the masses can’t help but root for. This does not sit well with the show’s producer Dan Killian, played by Josh Brolin, who oozes corporate menace and clearly took some notes from The Hunger Games’ Caesar Flickerman—if Caesar had a switchblade under his smile and a billion-dollar kill count.
As Ben’s popularity grows, so does the target on his back. The trailer is packed with Wright’s signature style: rapid cuts, neon-soaked cityscapes, retro-futuristic tech, and the kind of pulse-pounding soundtrack that makes running for your life feel oddly danceable. Also featured: a cast of delightfully deranged Hunters, each one more gimmicky and unhinged than the last, like if American Gladiators had a murder budget.
Unlike the 1987 Schwarzenegger film of the same name (which barely resembled King’s book and mostly served as a protein shake commercial with explosions), this version sticks closer to the source material—and turns the satirical screws even tighter.
The Running Man is scheduled to hit theaters on November 7, 2025, courtesy of Paramount Pictures. So go ahead and cancel your other plans, unless those plans involve surviving a media death gauntlet for cash, in which case… good luck, Ben. You’re gonna need it.
