WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Running Man (2025). Could there be a better time for an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man? Originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, this dystopian novella is not only set in 2025, but it also follows a world in which ultra-wealthy overlords control the masses […]
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Running Man (2025).
Could there be a better time for an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man? Originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, this dystopian novella is not only set in 2025, but it also follows a world in which ultra-wealthy overlords control the masses by manipulating perception via television. This dark and gritty story was first published in 1982 and written when the world-famous author was still a young man struggling to support his own growing family. But more than forty years later, the story feels perhaps even more relevant than it did upon publication. Director Edgar Wright eschews the neon glitz and game show glamour of Paul Michael Glaser’s 1987 adaptation, instead adding modern embellishments that hew closer to the art of reality TV. In fact, where Glasers’ narrative has little to do with King’s original plot, Wright’s The Running Man is extremely faithful until a twist ending injects much-needed hope into this nihilistic world.
Desperate to buy medicine for his baby daughter, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) enters the audition process for a slate of dangerous competition reality shows produced by the nefarious Network corporation. This mega monopoly is run by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), a soulless executive with a killer smile who curates a deceptive version of the world designed to increase his own power. Richards finds himself assigned to The Running Man, the Network’s premiere prime time show, which follows fugitives trying to outrun a group of five elite mercenary killers known as the Hunters. Though Richards earns money for each day he survives—and a bonus for each person he kills—he must run for 30 days to win the grand prize of one billion New Dollars. To prevent contestants from simply going to ground, they are required to post a daily video journal mailed to the Network headquarters. As in King’s sister novella, The Long Walk (recently adapted by Francis Lawrence), the stakes couldn’t be higher. The game ends when either Richards survives for 30 days or is killed on national television. Whereas Glasers’ version takes place in an American Gladiators-inspired arena, Wright’s version more closely aligns with King’s original source material and follows Richards across an increasingly divided United States.
That’s not to say that Wright completely ignores the 1987 classic. His version of the story includes several visual references nodding to the iconic film’s staging and composition. Of course, we see that Arnold Schwarzenegger—the original Ben Richards—now grins at us from each New Dollar, this dystopian world’s paper currency. But Wright’s other easter eggs wink at King’s literary canon and memorable adaptations. When Ben reaches a pivotal stage of the audition process, he passes lockers assigned to familiar names. Among them are “Sheen” and “Walken,” referencing the stars of David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone, while “Spacek” and “Katt” nod to the Prom King and Queen of Brian De Palma’s Carrie. Ben is handed a business card for Darnell’s Garage, the gungy workshop where Arnie Cunningham fixes up his precious Christine in the author’s harrowing 1983 novel, and one Hunter’s Achilles tendon is sliced as in Mary Lambert’s Pet Sematary.
Constant Readers will also perk up when Richards runs to the sinister Derry, Maine. While King’s version of the story does take us to this dangerous town—four years before It was published—Wright throws in playful references to the author’s connected universe. One building bears the name Bachman, referencing the author’s early pseudonym, and a mention of a Chinese restaurant is a playful nod to Jade of the Orient, a Derry restaurant in which the Losers’ Club hosts their adult reunion. But perhaps most exciting is Tabby’s Diner, honoring the author’s long-time wife and fellow author, Tabitha King, who famously rescued an early draft of Carrie from the trash and urged her husband to continue the story.
In addition to these sly easter eggs, Wright makes a series of thematic changes to reflect modern trends in reality TV. While on the run, Richards finds himself drawn into the ridiculous storylines of The Americanos, a tone deaf series featuring an ultrawealthy and oblivious family as they quarrel their way through outlandish scenarios. Clearly inspired by Keeping Up with the Kardashians, most of Wright’s additions speak more to the competition side of the reality world. Richards learns the nuances of the game from Apostle (Daniel Ezra), a disguised student of the game who hosts a series of explainer videos deconstructing the show’s pervasive dishonesty. Illustrated by compiled footage, Apostle cleverly explains the different types of competitors. Each hunt begins with three Runners who spread out across the United States and try to evade the Hunters’ deadly grasp. Given the entire world in which to run, players invariably fall into three general categories.
Hopeless Dude is usually the first to fall. This oblivious and pitiable contestant doesn’t seem to understand the stakes of the game and makes laughably bad attempts to disguise his identity. We watch as Jansky (Martin Herlihy), this season’s Hopeless Dude, makes himself a target by blatantly flirting with a cashier and asking her if he resembles anyone on TV. This archetype usually dies after a couple of days, allowing the season to kick off with a bang. Second to fall is usually Negative Dude, a nihilistic participant using the game’s resources to go out in a blaze of debaucherous glory. Not really trying to hide, Laughlin (Katy O’Brian), films her videos from strip clubs and casinos, reveling in the notoriety and banking on her ability to run at a moment’s notice. Depending on the spectacle of her conspicuous consumption, producers will allow this to play out for a week or two, then swoop in for the kill when ratings begin to dip.
Perhaps most upsetting in this nihilistic system, Negative Dude shows the utter hopelessness of life in the slums. A neighbor of Richards, Laughlin, is clearly experiencing wealth for the first time. Cast in a show with a kill rate of 100% she comes from a life of crushing poverty and has decided that this brief moment of luxury is worth giving up on a futile existence of dodging deadly pollution and eternally struggling to make ends meet.
Katy O’Brian stars in Paramount Pictures’ “THE RUNNING MAN.”
The longest surviving archetype reliably becomes The Running Man’s bread and butter. Final Dude—a cheeky play on the Final Girl trope—is both resourceful and cagy, capable of outlasting the Hunters for all thirty days if not for the Network’s interference. Illegally tracking the video blogs, Killian also employs a system of nationwide DNA detectors used to pinpoint the player’s exact location. Preoccupied with the first two contestants, they usually let Final Dude run until he takes to the woods, when they arrange a crowd-pleasing execution staged to highlight the Hunters’ skill. While King’s version does feature multiple runners, Wright’s additions reflect the well-established archetypes of a television landscape overrun with competition reality shows.
The Grand Finale
Emilia Jones stars in Paramount Pictures’ “THE RUNNING MAN,” also starring Glen Powell.
When it appears that the resourceful Richards will go the distance, Killian attempts to goose the show’s ratings by making him a lucrative offer. After hijacking a luxury plane headed for Network headquarters, the sinister executive arranges for a private video call and lays out a manufactured twist ending: Richards will defy capture and become the star of Hunter 6, the next iteration of The Running Man. His motivation will be revenge for the murder of his wife and daughter, footage of which Killian shows the devastated man. He will live a life of luxury while becoming a legal assassin, killing at the Network’s beck and call. All Richards has to do to accept this offer is slaughter the remaining Hunters posing as the aircraft’s pilots.
While Richards does manage to take out three Hunters, the elite squad’s leader proves elusive. After negotiating with the fugitive for use of the plane, McCone (Lee Pace) is ordered by Killian to remove his trademark mask. Reluctantly, he obliges and reveals himself to be the Final Dude from season one. This mysterious Runner lasted until day 29 when he was murdered in a spectacular season finale. We learn that the Network offered McCone a similar deal: they would fake his death for a contract as the show’s Lead Hunter. The scarred man now regrets accepting and warns Richards that the Network lies. Instead of a life-changing salary, he was forced to watch his family tortured and killed by Network agents and has essentially become Killian’s slave. Outraged that his contract has come to an end, he and Richards fight to the death in the plane’s lavish cabin. Barely escaping with his life, a severely injured Richards rejects Killian’s deal and waits as the remotely controlled plane is flown towards the Network high rise, only to be blown out of the sky just moments before colliding with the tower.
King’s version of the story ends with this destructive collision and Richards taunting Killian as the aircraft nears impact. Likely attempting to avoid parallels to 9/11, Wright takes the story in a new direction, injecting hope into King’s bleak conclusion. Footage of the plane destroyed by airborne missiles transitions into a new explainer video from Apostle. Pointing to a cleverly disguised escape pod in footage of the explosion, he posits that Richards managed to eject himself from the plane and make a full recovery.
Josh Brolin stars in Paramount Pictures’ “THE RUNNING MAN.”
A heartwarming coda confirms this assertion as the fugitive secretly reunites with his wife and child. We learn that Richards has become a folk hero of sorts, inspiring the masses to ignore the Network’s FreeVee propaganda and begin looking at the oligarchs pulling society’s strings. When Killian attempts to manipulate The Running Man’s next episode, he’s overwhelmed by resistance fighters who have infiltrated the studio audience. They storm the stage, and the previously unflappable man is left defenseless on his own TV set. A masked assassin emerges from the crowd, revealed to be Richards himself, and prepares to call “action” by murdering Killian.
Wright ends the story on this destructive yet empowering beat, leaning into the rebel culture of zines and grassroots protest. Unlike King’s nihilistic novella, Richards has become the ignition switch for hope and change, leading an army of civilians determined to overthrow the powerful elite. This dramatic change mirrors the altered conclusion of Lawrence’s The Long Walk, in which a deadly reality show ends with a violent call to arms. Though written by a self-described angry young man in the 70s, both stories feel eerily prescient in 2025. Almost appearing to break the fourth wall, Richards pleads for us to ignore contrived propaganda and start paying attention to wealthy overlords who distract from their unjustifiable privilege by keeping us at each other’s throats.
In a world rocked by deep fakes, alternative facts, and blatant lies, Wright uses King’s vicious story as a reminder that we all hold the power to spark systemic change if we reject comfortable manipulation fed to us by deceptive TV and find the courage to face the truth.
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