The Running Man is the latest Stephen King adaptation to hit cinemas. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
It has been a big year for Stephen King adaptations.
In 2025 alone, two of his books were adapted to TV shows with IT: Welcome to Derry and The Institute, as well as four movies, including The Monkey, The Long Walk, The Life of Chuck and The Running Man.
While most of the aforementioned projects have seen moderate success or are still in the middle of their respective TV runs, one stands out amongst the rest. That’d be The Running Man.
The Running Man, starring Glen Powell, is an interesting conundrum.
It’s an adaptation of a book that sold reasonably well, while also being a remake of one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lowest-grossing films ever, earning just over $32 million on a $27 million budget in 1987.
However, despite its source material not being overly popular, Paramount Pictures had confidence that popular director Edgar Wright, the mastermind behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, could weave his magic with the assistance of an impossible-to-hate lead man, Glen Powell.
Despite the hopes of Paramount, it appears no one else on the planet was asking for this remake, with the 2025 adaptation now looking to become one of the biggest box office bombs of the year.
Like its source material, The Running Man is set in a dystopian world where an evil network dictates what people can see and hear.
Ben, who is desperate for money, signs up for a depraved TV show by the network called The Running Man. The premise of the show is that participants attempt to evade execution by ‘hunters’ for 30 days; if successful, the winner is given $1 billion.
The premise is cool enough, but we still live in a time where IPs like The Hunger Games still own this genre. Unfortunately for The Running Man, it does little better than similar movies, making it a completely fine yet ultimately forgettable experience.
Edgar Wright turns in one of the safest movies of his career. Gone is the tongue-in-cheek nature of his early films, and unlike Baby Driver or Scott Pilgrim vs the World, there is little stylised flair that sets it apart from other action films released in the past few years.
I found myself often saying out loud, ‘Sure, why not?’ whenever something new took place, because, like the director, I was uninspired.
Nowhere does this film feel more stale than in its pacing and editing.
We are chucked in random situations with strange people with whom we have no history which, unlike Wright’s earlier works, is a staple.
There’s no Nicholas Angel, Shaun, Gary King or even Baby. Instead, it’s randoms played by reasonably famous actors.
The cast actually does a good job, with Glen Powell proving he can be an action star if he wanted to be. Other standouts include Coleman Domingo as the presenter of The Running Man, Josh Brolin as the movie’s big bad and Michael Cera as an underground freedom fighter.
Unfortunately, not enough time is spent giving any of them a history, so their talents go to waste.
General audiences clearly weren’t buying into the film either. In its first weekend, it grossed just over $28 million worldwide on a $110 million budget, marking the first major financial loss of Wright’s career.
While this film is by no means awful or even bad, it is extremely forgettable, and because of this, it was punished with a sad box office.
The Running Man is currently showing in cinemas across the country.
