Paramount is pulling out all the stops to promote The Running Man, including a short social media teaser on Monday to promote the release of the full-length trailer on Tuesday. The eight-second clip shows star Glen Powell looking giddy and triumphant before an explosion fills the screen. It’s a tantalizing tease of the action in this grim dystopian movie, which is a more faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s novel than the 1987 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Running Man hits theaters on November 7th in the U.S., but for now, we can look forward to the trailer dropping on Tuesday.
The Running Man is set in the U.S. in the near future, at a time when economic collapse has ravaged the world and totalitarian forces have seized control of the country. One way the authorities placate the masses is with a brutal reality TV show called The Running Man, in which contestants are declared enemies of the state and are challenged to become fugitives, running and hiding from police, military, and bounty hunters for as long as possible.
Powell plays a contestant and the main character, Ben Richards, while Josh Brolin plays the show’s producer, Dan Killian. Lee Pace plays one of the show’s designated “hunters” tracking down the contestants, along with Karl Glusman. Katy O’Brian and Daniel Ezra both play contestants as well, while Jayme Lawson plays Ben’s wife. Michael Cera plays Bradley Throckmorton, a political dissident who takes an interest in Ben. This new adaptation was co-written by Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall, and directed by Wright.
It’s an exciting projects for fans of the original novel, which King published under his pen name Richard Bachman. The first adaptation of the book starring Schwarzenegger told a very different story, which was so far removed from the source material that it hardly seems related at all. In it, Schwarzenegger plays a disgraced military captain who has actually been blacklisted for refusing an order to executive unarmed citizens during a food riot. He actually escapes from prison and becomes a true fugitive all before the reality TV element is introduced. Even then, the game is depicted very differently in this version.
Whichever version you prefer, the remake may emerge as your new favorite. The Running Man hits theaters on November 7th, and the trailer debuts on Tuesday. The 1987 movie is streaming now on Paramount+, and the original novel is available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
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