The Running Man Includes Major Stephen King Easter Eggs for His Most Famous Book (And the Timing Is Perfect)

Stephen King‘s career has been built not only in the immense library of titles he’s written, but the connectivity that permeates throughout all his books. The Dark Tower series is the core throughout a great deal of King’s works, but minor connections have always taken fans by surprise. Across his career, characters from other stories cross over into various titles, such as Father Callahan, who first appeared in ‘Salem’s Lot and then makes a major appearance in The Dark Tower; and even major locations like Castle Rock, Maine, also pop up through many stories like Cujo, The Stand, and more.

This week sees the release of The Running Man, the third Stephen King adaptation to hit movie theaters this year alone. The movie, which is not a remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 film but rather a new adaptation of Stephen King’s book, sets itself apart by being a dystopian sci-fi work and not an outright horror story. As a result, the narrative doesn’t have many opportunities to really connect to King’s other titles in the same way that his more supernatural stories do. The Running Man, however, takes a major detour into a King hot spot and makes sure to wink at the audience the entire time. Spoilers for The Running Man follow.

Read Next

IT: Welcome to Derry Reveals Its Connection to the Best Stephen King Movie Ever (Will There Be a Crossover?!)

The Running Man Makes a Pit Stop in Pennywise’s Hometown of Derry, Maine

Originally published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Running Man tells the story of a grim future in America where wealth inequality has reached a fever pitch. Forced to go on a game show to try and win money to help his sick daughter, Ben Richardson finds himself literally running for his life as he’s hunted for sport on the biggest show in America, “The Running Man.” Naturally, this means leaving his hometown and making a break for it across the US to stay alive. As he makes his journey, though, he gets help along the way with one ally sending him to another friend that can help, whose address is in none other than Derry, Maine.

Stephen King fans should immediately recognize this name when it’s shown on screen, as Derry is, of course, the primary location for Stephen King’s IT. The tiny Maine town marks the hunting ground for Pennywise the Dancing Clown and has been shown on screen across two feature films and the iconic mini-series from the 1990s.

In Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, it’s where Glen Powell’s Ben Richardson meets up with Michael Cera’s Elton Parrakis for aid in remaining undetected. Before the pair can meet, however, Richardson walks through the streets of Derry disguised as a blind, Irish priest. As he enters the town, two major Easter Eggs for IT are revealed.

The first is a Chinese restaurant, which a passerby calls “the best takeout in Maine. Though the sign for the establishment is only on screen briefly, it could very well be “The Jade of the Orient,” a location that plays a pivotal role in the story of IT. More importantly than this restaurant, though, a storefront is seen as Ben walks down the street, with the window displaying red balloons, the calling card of Pennywise.

To make the use of this town on the big screen even better, it’s arriving in theaters at the exact time that Derry is on a lot of fans’ minds, with new episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiering on HBO every week. Though fans may think this was done on purpose, this sojourn to Derry comes directly from the text of The Running Man itself and isn’t done for the sake of connectivity (legally, it couldn’t be, as Warner Bros. owns the rights to IT adaptations, not Paramount). In Stephen King’s original book, which was published years before IT was even released and written long before it, the use of Derry happens almost exactly as it does in the film, marking a major location for Richards in his journey.