2025 was the year of Stephen King. The last year saw the famed author’s dominance on the screen grow with countless film and TV adaptations of some of his most popular books. As the next year and beyond looks to be another landmark period for the Master of Horror with Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series slated for a 2026 release and other projects like The Dark Tower and Fairy Tale TV series currently in the works, fans can now stream the 2025 remake of King’s cult sci-fi classic – and it has become an instant streaming hit.
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Just two months after its theatrical release, Edgar Wright’s The Running Man is now streaming on Paramount+ as of January 13th. The movie is the second film adaptation of King’s 1982 novel after the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring film of the same name. It is set in a near dystopian future and stars Glen Powell as Ben Richards, a blacklisted laborer who, in desperate need of money to save his sick daughter, signs up to compete in The Running Man, a deadly competition show where Runners must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins.
Even though The Running Man is the newest addition to Paramount+’s streaming catalog, it has already shot to No. 1 on the streaming charts in the U.S. It currently outranks No. 1 in the U.S., outranking fellow Top 5 contenders Roofman, Regretting You, Fighting, and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.
The Running Man Was One of the Biggest Disappointments of 2025
Despite its star power with Wright and Powell and riding the wave of other successful King adaptations, which have long proven to garner plenty of interest and return big successes, The Running Man became one of the biggest sci-fi disappointments of 2025. The movie only grossed $68 million against a high production budget of $100 million, making it one of 2025’s biggest box office bombs, and received mixed reviews from critics, who said it was poorly executed, suffered from an inconsistent tone and bland action, and ultimately failed to live up to Wright’s reputation.
It wasn’t all bad news for The Running Man, though. The film scored higher than the 1987 movie in terms of both critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes, notching respective 63% and 78% ratings against the original film’s 59% and 61% scores. While the movie is one of the weaker King adaptations of the year, it is still a thrilling, smart adaptation that captures the book’s spirit and delivers high-octane action, strong performances, especially from Powell, and timely social commentary. ComicBook’s Spencer Perry gave the film a 3 out of 5 and described The Running Man as a “good, not great,” movie, adding that “even a movie that’s just ‘okay’ from this director largely makes it better than most of the mainstream studio movies you’ll find playing in the theater.”
What’s New on Paramount+
The Running Man joined a vast library of new titles at Paramount+ this January. This month already delivered movies like 10 Cloverfield Lane and the original Scream trilogy, with other titles like the Paramount+ exclusive film Barron’s Cove, The Crow, and Zodiac now also streaming.
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