Warning! Spoilers for the ending of The Running Man novel!
Edgar Wright has revealed that his adaptation of The Running Man has wrapped filming. The dystopian Stephen King novel has been loosely adapted before into an Arnold Schwarzenegger-led movie directed by Paul Michael Glaser. The novel was released under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 before receiving its first movie in 1987. The story follows Ben Richards, played by Glen Powell in the new Running Man adaptation, as he competes in a government-run game show that puts his life on the line as he tries to earn money for his family. The movie will release on November 7, 2025.
Wright has released a behind-the-scenes image on Instagram of him and Powell. The image sees the pair smiling with a board that reveals the new logo and the announcement that The Running Man has wrapped filming. The board holds the signatures of the cast and crew who worked on the movie. In the middle of the image is a drawing of Powell’s Ben Richards with a word balloon that reads “Richard Lives,” which is a departure from the King story where he ultimately dies.
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What This Means For The Running Man
The Movie Will Be Different From The Schwarzenegger Version
Wright has previously mentioned that his adaptation will skew closer to King’s original novel. The Schwarzenegger movie, while very entertaining in its own right, liberally changed the story and created its own world. As Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest action stars of the ’80s, the movie catered to his larger-than-life action persona.
The image Wright released hints that the new adaptation may have a different ending with Richards living.
In the novel, Richards enters the game show to help his family, where he accrues money over 30 days if he can survive being hunted. In a brutal reality show setting, he the public watches on, and can win cash for providing tips on his location. While Powell is a rising star, and has a more traditionally handsome look than described in the novel, he will undoubtedly be a closer approximation to what King wrote.
Our Take On The Running Man Image
The Ending Will Have To Be Different
The biggest challenge The Running Man has in being a faithful adaptation is the ending. Richards, in an act of defiance, kills the executive producer of the show by crashing a plane into a skyscraper while flipping him off. Earlier in the novel, Richards said that he would get above the floor the producer was on, and the ending has that quite literally happen, concluding with a fiery explosion. The problem boils down to the imagery being too similar to 9/11, and the chances of a Hollywood production replicating that ending seem slim.
The image Wright released hints that the new adaptation may have a different ending with Richards living. Alternatively, it could also be a sign of social resistance, as the public is lied to about his well-being by the government-sanctioned show. Whatever the case, the ending of The Running Man will undoubtedly be changed.
Source: Edgar Wright/Instagram
