The audience at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas was shown the first trailer for Edgar Wright’s The Running Man
Four years have gone by since it was announced that Edgar Wright was coming on board to direct a new take on the novel The Running Man, which was written by Stephen King under his Richard Bachman pen name. The Running Man was, of course, previously turned into a film back in 1987 that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and had little to do with the source material. Last year, Wright’s take on the material began filming with Glen Powell of Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and Twisters in the lead role. Production wrapped last month – and now, the audience at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas has already gotten to see the first trailer for the film!
King’s novel has the following description: It was the ultimate death game in a nightmare future America. The year is 2025 and reality TV has grown to the point where people are willing to wager their lives for a chance at a billion-dollar jackpot. Ben Richards is desperate – he needs money to treat his daughter’s illness. His last chance is entering a game show called The Running Man where the goal is to avoid capture by Hunters who are employed to kill him. Surviving this month-long chase is another issue when everyone else on the planet is watching – and willing to turn him in for the reward.
During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast a while back, Wright said he was drawn to The Running Man because, “I like the film but I like the book more, and they didn’t really adapt the book. Even as a teenager when I saw the Schwarzenegger film I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t like the book at all!’ And I think, ‘Nobody’s [done] that book.’ So when that came up, I was thinking, and Simon Kinberg says, ‘Do you have any interest in The Running Man?’ I said, ‘You know what? I’ve often thought that that book is something crying out to be adapted.’ Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy! [Laughs] But it’s something that we are working on, yes.”
Wright is directing The Running Man from a script he co-wrote with Michael Bacall and is producing the film with Nira Park and Simon Kinberg. Powell is joined in the cast by Katy O’Brian (who had a breakthrough role in Love Lies Bleeding and shared the screen with Powell in Twisters) as a contestant; Daniel Ezra, who played the character Spencer James on 106 episodes of the CW series All American; Josh Brolin (Outer Range), playing a TV executive who is the main villain; Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire) as a ruthless hunter; Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as a “naïve rebel who tries to help the desperate man”; Emilia Jones (CODA) as a “privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government“; David Zayas (Dexter) as a character named Richard Manuel; Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead) as the host of The Running Man, a violent reality show promising an outrageous cash prize; and William H. Macy of Fargo and Boogie Nights.
JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray was at CinemaCon to witness the first trailer and reports that Edgar Wright, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, and Glen Powell were all in attendance. “As suggested previously, the movie is about the “runners” being on the run for a month all over the world while being hunted, as it’s being documented on a reality show. Domingo is the host, Brolin is the show mastermind.” Here’s his description of the trailer: Set in a dystopian future. No one has ever survived The Running Man. Glen Powell’s daughter is sick and he needs money. The film has an epic scope – the design of the show where Domingo hosts is reminiscent of the original, but the scope is very different as the lead is running all over the world, and regular people are trying to kill him too. One set piece is set on a plane as the pilots try to kill him and they all flip around the cabin. Also looks like it could be R-Rated and has LOADS of action. Very much Glen Powell’s launch as a Tom Cruise style star.
The Running Man is set to reach theatres on November 7th. What do you think of the description of the trailer that was shown at CinemaCon? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
