Edgar Wright’s The Running Man needs to change one aspect of the book that is now extremely outdated. The upcoming Running Man movie will be an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 dystopian novel, which he published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Technically, there was already an adaptation made in 1987, but the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led movie is not very faithful to the book.

Based on the trailer for The Running Man, Wright’s take on the story will stay much closer to the source material, which makes it arguably the most exciting Stephen King adaptation of 2025.

In the film, Glen Powell will play Ben Richards, a man who signs up for a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly game show called “The Running Man” to earn some money so that he can properly take care of his sick daughter. As the country watches him, he must evade being caught and killed by police or the show’s professional hunters, his prize money rising for each hour he remains free.

In addition to Powell, the cast of The Running Man includes Josh Brolin, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, and Emilia Jones. Based on the premise and its stacked cast, The Running Man could be amazing, but it needs to change one important aspect of the book.

The Book’s Pocket Camera Element Hasn’t Aged Well

Who Sends Anything Through The Mail These Days?

The Running Man novel is actually set in 2025, and while much of King’s dystopia still resonates today, some of the original story’s technology just wouldn’t make sense to replicate exactly.

For example, in the book, the contestants are given a pocket video camera and are required to record two videos per day and mail them back to the studio, so that they can be included in the game show’s episodes. Failing to mail the videos doesn’t end the hunt, but will prevent the contestant’s family from receiving the prize money if they’re killed.

Obviously, in the age of digital messaging, this setup doesn’t make sense for what’s meant to be a futuristic dystopia. More than likely, Ben will receive some kind of smartphone in the upcoming movie, rather than a video camera that requires actual tapes. However, given its importance in the novel, Wright’s adaptation will have to do more than just change the tech.

In King’s book, despite what the Games Network claims, Ben is convinced that mailing these recordings allows the studio to track his location. This detail ultimately becomes critical when Bradley, a citizen who allies with Ben, comes up with a scheme to have the recordings forwarded to him. This actually does allow Ben to remain hidden for a while, because the Network has no other reliable way to track him.

That notion is practically as likely to trigger an audience’s disbelief as seeing Glen Powell send tapes through the mail, and that makes things tricky for The Running Man. The movie’s Ben can surely record himself with a more modern device, but if Wright wants to maintain this element of the original story, he needs to come up with some way to convince us that Ben can successfully evade detection.

In a sense, this is a good problem to have. Our familiarity with cameras and facial recognition means The Running Man will have no problem replicating the sense of paranoia that plagues Ben in the book, which is what’s most important to capturing its propulsive energy. But finding the right digital trickery to hide him will require Wright thinking outside the bounds of his source material.