Glen Powell’s Running Man Remake Gets Major Production Update

Edgar Wright and Glen Powell’s new take on Stephen King’s The Running Man is one step closer to becoming a reality. According to a new report from The Wrap, The Running Man is set to begin production in November of this year, after the film was officially greenlit by Paramount Pictures. Wright is set to direct the film, which is based on King’s 1982 novel of the same name and will star Powell. This comes after Powell previously hinted to IndieWire that he would be juggling production on The Running Man with returning to finish his degree at the University of Texas, suggesting that filming would commence at some point in the fall.

“I’m not going to be sitting in a class with other students on the regular,” Powell revealed. “I’m basically going to be coming back because I have to finish up, but I’m going to be shooting The Running Man in the fall. So I’m going to be in London, but I am going to be going back for proctored exams. So, they’re letting me figure it out [with] distance learning. And I’m obviously going to be coming in, Zooming in for classes and whatnot, but I have to be back for the proctored exams. So, we’re figuring that out for two or three times a semester, I’ll come back for all my stuff. Edgar has been very nice about letting me finish my degree in the middle of his massive movie.”

What Is The Running Man Remake About?

The Running Man is set in a dystopian world where contestants can enter to appear on the TV show “The Running Man” where they must elude police and authorities for an extended amount of time. If they’re successful they’ll take home a huge cash prize, but for a month’s time they’ll be hunted by men with shoot to kill orders. The story was already loosely adapted into a movie in 1987, directed by Paul Michael Glaser with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the titular role.

“It was so fun for me because I searched “Edgar Wright” in my email the other day, writing “Edgar.” We’ve been going back and forth on script stuff, and it’s so fun,” Powell said elsewhere in the interview. “The world that Edgar’s developed on this thing is just outrageous. It’s so good. And really, we’re just both such big fans of the Stephen King book, and it’s going to be a great character. I’m so fired up about it. But I searched my email, and I searched Edgar Wright in my email, and it came up: I had a wish list of directors that I wanted to work with in 2008 when I moved out to LA that I sent my agent at the time — and Edgar Wright is literally number one. I’m such an Edgar Wright man. And so, the fact that I get to work with him right now is just so damn cool.”