Edgar Wright Unleashes First Trailer for The Running Man Reboot

Paramount Pictures has released the first official trailer for The Running Man (2025). Edgar Wright will helm the new project, which is a remake of a Stephen King novel of the same name, originally published under the pen name Richard Bachman in 1982. However, the 2025 film will be nothing like the Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick that starred the former in the titular role in 1987.

Published in 1982 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Running Man is a dystopian, social commentary thriller that wasn’t as much of a smash as some of King’s other novels, like The Shining (1977), It (1986), or Pet Sematary (1983). In the late 1970s and early 1980s, King released multiple novels under the Bachman name until he was outed in 1984. One of the more memorable Bachman novels was The Running Man, which, according to King, was one of the fastest novels he ever wrote, taking a mere week.

Set in a total dystopian United States in the year 2025, a collapsed, totalitarian government keeps the country placated by a live-action, hunting reality game show on its prime-time slots.

The protagonist of the story, Ben Richards, is an unemployed man from “Co-Op City” with a wife and a terminally ill daughter. When he’s blacklisted from jobs and sanctioned by the government, he takes a chance and auditions for the nation’s most-watched TV show: The Running Man. Participants of the game, called Runners, are pursued by a pack of professional killers, called Hunters, while the whole of America is watching.

Runners, declared enemies of the state by the show’s corrupt presenter, are given a 12-hour head start before being tracked down by Hunters, while the entire country cheers them on and a grotesque bounty is added to their heads. It’s a race against time, wits, and death.

Each day a contestant survives, he or she gets a share of the $1 billion prize, with the first person to survive 30 days walking away with the grand prize. To date, no one has come close to that feat, with the highest record being 197 hours. Contestants can also earn money for every Hunter they kill, which means that the longer they play, the more money they get to keep.

Ben Richards, however, does better than most—much better, in fact, to the surprise of producers and the game’s charismatic host. Ben is declared an enemy of the state and given a head start in the trailer. In true King fashion, it looks like things are not going to end well, though.

1987’s The Running Man, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, adapted the general premise of the Bachman novel into a sci-fi action extravaganza more suited to the Hollywood blockbusters of the late 1980s. Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of Ben Richards was vastly different from King’s protagonist. He was more of an action hero than a desperate out-of-work regular Joe. According to the book, Richards was “scrawny” and “pre-tubercular.”

What followed was a loud, fun, but still gory actioner with plenty of violence and cool gizmos.

Fans of Wright, who is best known for the hits Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver, and Last Night in Soho, have been waiting for The Running Man since he announced his interest in directing back in 2017. He was then joined by co-writer Michael Bacall after Paramount greenlit the project in 2021. Their take was set to be a “faithful adaptation” but with their spin.

The first look at Wright’s take on The Running Man, released on June 15, shows that the writer and director weren’t kidding about the movie being a close adaptation of the novel. As soon as the words “Running Man” hit the screen, we know that this one is true to the book, and Wright isn’t making things pretty. The film stars Glen Powell as Richards, with Josh Brolin taking on the role of the game show’s producer, Dan Killian.

Killian appears to be the show’s host, Bobby Thompson, played by Colman Domingo. Lee Pace is the film’s lead Hunter, Evan McCone, who tracks Ben down after the Runner begins to outrun the Hunters and gain popularity in the game and beyond. Powell’s wife is played by Jayme Lawson as Sheila, while Michael Cera also makes an appearance as rebel Bradley Throckmorton. Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright also star in smaller roles, with Bacall playing Show Executive Michael Barret and Wright playing Host Rick Seaver.

Other notable cast members include William H. Macy as Cookson, David Zayas as Kilian, Emilia Jones, Karl Glusman, Katy O’Brian, and Daniel Ezra in supporting roles.

Farewell, Happy Endings

It is not yet known if Wright and Bacall will be sticking to King’s famously depressing ending or if they will give it a Hollywood twist. But the trailer doesn’t seem to suggest that the director duo is taking the material lightly. So, it’s likely that we will get a social commentary thriller that might hit a little too close to home when it comes to the casual cruelty of entertainment.

Fun fact: Stephen King fans will be happy to know that they have another book-based, dystopian competition film to look forward to in 2025. The Long Walk, another one of King’s novels written as Bachman in 1979, has a movie adaptation that is set to hit theaters on September 12. That film, titled similarly to the novel, is another brutal competition story by King, so that leaves fans of the Bachman oeuvre with a big year, and perhaps a somber one, for cinema.