Edgar Wright’s The Running Man Promises a Faithful King Adaptation

Paramount Pictures just dropped the first trailer for The Running Man (2025), the new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic 1982 dystopian thriller. (King published The Running Man under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.) The new film is directed by Edgar Wright and has taken a more faithful approach to the source material. In 1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in an action-heavy film adaptation that took some significant liberties with the book.

Stephen King published a handful of novels in the late ’70s and early ’80s under the Richard Bachman pseudonym before his true identity was revealed by an enterprising bookstore clerk in 1984. The Bachman books were some of King’s darker, more sci-fi-leaning works. One of the most popular was The Running Man. A tongue-in-cheek story written in just one week, The Running Man is set in a dystopian United States in the year 2025—a date which coincidentally marks the release year of this new film adaptation.

The United States is a broken, totalitarian state in which a weekly reality game show called The Running Man is the most-watched broadcast on television. Our protagonist is Ben Richards, a man living in “Co-Op City” with his wife and critically ill daughter. He’s currently blacklisted by the authorities and struggling to find work. In a final gamble, he decides to apply to be the star of The Running Man, the country’s highest-rated show.

Runners are hunted by a team of professional killers called Hunters while millions of viewers watch their every move on live television. The goal is simple: stay alive for 30 days and win $1 billion. So far, no one has survived more than 197 hours, but each day of survival nets a cash prize. And for each Hunter the Runner dispatches, he or she will receive an additional monetary bonus. The contestants’ motives are mixed. Some are in desperate financial or personal situations, others are just looking for a thrill, and a few simply hope to die with a little dignity.

In a bad case of foreshadowing, Richards is declared an enemy of the state and given 12 hours’ head start before the manhunt begins. From there, the Running Man kicks off into a deadly race against time.

The premise of the show itself is simple and terrifying. Stay alive for 30 days and win a billion dollars. So far, no one has ever made it past 197 hours, but each day a contestant stays alive, they net a cash prize. For each Hunter dispatched by the Runner, there is a monetary bonus. While motivations are mixed among the contestants, desperate financial straits or personal situations, a death wish, or a dash of dignity are often the deciding factors for Runner applicants.

The 1987 film version kept the premise of a deadly reality game show but shifted focus from satire to sci-fi action, adding many plot elements and tonal shifts that only paid passing homage to King’s original. In the film, Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was largely a blank slate. Emotionally, physically, and socially disconnected, Richards is a star athlete with a full wallet, ready to take on the game as a true bad-ass. (King’s original description of Ben as “scrawny” and “pre-tubercular” was abandoned.) The action was loud, fun, and gadget-filled. But a lot of the original’s biting satire and emotional power was left on the cutting-room floor.

Lee Pace plays Evan McCone, the lead Hunter on Ben’s trail. Ben’s wife, Sheila, is played by Jayme Lawson, while Colman Domingo is the host of the show, Bobby Thompson. Michael Cera also appears in a small but mysterious role as a rebel figure called Bradley Throckmorton. Other cast members include William H. Macy, David Zayas, Emilia Jones, Karl Glusman, Katy O’Brian, and Daniel Ezra.

As for the ending, it’s hard to say whether Wright and Bacall will be as grim as King. But early reports are that they are planning to be as faithful to the book’s ending as possible. One thing’s for sure: the film will not pull any punches with the book’s darker themes of desperation, personal exploitation, and the numbing effect of daily doses of televised violence.

The Running Man is set to release on November 7, 2025.

More Bachman in 2025

Stephen King fans will also have another one of the author’s dystopian competition stories to look forward to in 2025. In 1979, King published another of his Bachman books, The Long Walk. A story King wrote about a government-run competition with a violent and macabre premise, a film adaptation of The Long Walk, is slated to be released in 2025. With the original release date of September 12, The Long Walk will arrive just two months before The Running Man comes to theaters on November 7.

Films about government-run competitions with varying levels of cruelty and media manipulation aren’t exactly subtle commentaries on entertainment, capitalism, or how a lack of empathy can quickly take over a society. 2025 is set to be a big year for Stephen King fans, and maybe a sobering one for the rest of us.