Actor Glen Powell has admitted that perhaps the most nerve‑wracking step in making his next movie, The Running Man, was the period of waiting to receive approval from author Stephen King. The film, directed by Edgar Wright, is an adaptation of King’s 1982 novel (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) and aims to strike a balance between high‑stakes action and fidelity to the original material.
Powell takes on the lead role of Ben Richards, a man caught in a futuristic game show where survival equals victory. As he describes it, the project challenged him in ways he had not necessarily anticipated, asking that he stretch both the physical and emotional sides of his performance. For Wright, the goal was clear: rather than simply updating the 1987 Schwarzenegger movie, he sought to revisit the novel’s core themes and build something that would feel fresh, yet recognizable to fans of the book.
The pair’s mutual respect for the source is palpable. Powell’s comment about the “hardest part” being the wait for King’s sign‑off underscores the weight of expectation on a film of this scale. And Wright’s determination to avoid becoming just another remake speaks to the ambition behind the production. For viewers and fans of King alike, The Running Man promises to offer a re‑imagined vision of the deadly game show concept — one rooted in the novel’s spirit but realized for a new era of cinema.