Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man is poised to hit theaters this Friday, and Paramount Pictures has released an unflinching final trailer to whet our appetite in anticipation of the impending debut. Judging by the preview, it’s clear that this latest incarnation is nothing like the 1987 adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That campy spectacle is a fun time at the movies, but it’s widely regarded as a poor adaptation of the source material. This time around, director Edgar Wright is bringing the gritty, nihilistic, graphic energy of the tome to life.
Wright co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Bacall. The duo’s take follows Glen Powell as Ben Richards, a man down on his luck who ultimately makes the fateful decision to appear on a sadistic gameshow called The Running Man in hopes of securing a better life for his wife and ailing daughter. His objective is to survive 30 days of relentless pursuit by trained assassins. The longer Ben lasts, the more money he secures for his family.
The trailer, which you can watch below, reveals that Powell’s Ben is very much reminiscent of the wisecracking smart-ass protagonist depicted in the Stephen King novel from which the film is adapted. King wrote the book under his pen name, Richard Bachman.
While King was vocally critical of the previous adaptation, he is all in on Wright’s take. The director shared with Variety that he reached out to King for his thoughts, and the author was overwhelmingly positive in his response. “Like it? I love it!” King said in his reply to Wright. “It’s faithful enough to the book to keep the fans happy, but different enough to make it exciting for me.”
Josh Brolin and Colman Domingo round out the cast, with Brolin playing sadistic producer Dan Killian and Domingo featuring as the show’s host, Bobby “Bobby T” Thompson.
Head to the comments section to let us know if you’ll be checking the film out in theaters this weekend.
Categorized: News
