Given his rather chipper and cheeky comedic back catalog, it'd feel like a very severe detour for director Edgar Wright to keep the original ending of Stephen King's dark future tale, The Running Man, in his upcoming film, given how just incredibly bleak it is. For those who don't know, the 1982 novel ends with Ben Richards (who is played by Glen Powell in the new movie) learning that his wife and daughter, whom he'd hoped to get out of the slums by entering the Running Man competition, have been killed. With nothing left to lose, he flies a plane into the Games Network that produces the deadly television show, killing himself and his oppressors in the process as an act of defiance. Woof.
For Wright, that epic but equally soul-crushing closing act was never on the cards. “Everybody knew at the outset that [the novel’s ending] wasn’t going to be part of this adaptation exactly the way,” Wright told Film Stories. It was also a route that King was fully aware wouldn't make the final cut. “He realised even before he read it that we weren’t going to be doing the ending from the book,”
Of course, daring to tweak a King classic is a risky move, but thankfully, the legendary author welcomed Wright's upcoming alteration. "And when he emailed back, he said, ‘I was very curious how you were going to tackle the ending, and I think you did a great job.’ So I was very happy with that.”
Wright's upcoming futuristic action film has an extra dose of pressure, given that the story has already been told in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. While drastically different from the original story by King, who wrote under the name Richard Bachman, there will be some audiences that won't be able to shake the image that their Running Man resembles the Austrian Oak wrapped in a bright gold onesie, and not Hangman from Top Gun: Maverick. Thankfully, Wright and Powell also received the sign-off from Schwarzenegger to take their new version and run with it.
Back in April, Powell recalled making the call to the action movie icon, who, with a wave of his waffle-iron-sized hand, wished the new guy the best. "Arnold gave us his full blessing, and we get to give Arnold a very specific fun gift from the movie in a couple of weeks here. So I'm very excited to see him." Arnie's inclusion in The Running Man's legacy is already evident in the film's trailer, which depicts him as a president printed on a dollar bill. You'll be able to see if the new Running Man is worth the money when he sprints into theaters on November 7. For every exciting film still yet to arrive in 2025, get on your marks, get set, and go here.
