Edgar Wright’s The Running Man Remake Botches Its Own Message

This article contains spoilers for “The Running Man”.

There always seems to be a multitude of Stephen King adaptations in any given year, but interestingly 2025 saw not one, but two adaptations released under his writing pseudonym Richard Bachman. “The Long Walk” and “The Running Man” are both dark, angry stories about a dystopian future where television entertainment relies on a national taste for bloodlust under the guise of endurance. Francis Lawrence’s “The Long Walk” is an excellent film that best illustrates this by refusing to show what everyone at home sees and instead highlighting the psychological terror imposed on the boys as they walk toward their deaths. “The Running Man,” however, is a different beast, as cruel pageantry is part of the text. Learning that Edgar Wright’s version would not be a remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 film, but a closer adaptation of King’s story was exciting. Unfortunately, he fails to respond properly to the present moment.

/Film Chris Evangelista calls “The Running Man” a repetitive, murky and fabricated version of the story in his review, which he gets right about Schwarzenegger’s ornate money. It’s overwhelming that the fiery filmmaker behind the highly satirical Cornetto trilogy is virtually absent here. Co-written with Michael Bacall, Wright largely follows the novel’s plot machinations, with Ben Richards (Glen Powell) being an unemployed father who volunteers for the titular game show in order to pay for his daughter’s medication. He is given 30 days to survive, a feat no one else has ever accomplished, as well as a set of rules he must follow. What’s frustrating is that the film’s tonal imbalance of wanting to please audiences and comment on predatory societies neutralizes everything it wants to make.

There are moments throughout “The Running Man” where Ben feels disgusted at being used as a vehicle for TV violence, but the film itself often revels in its tone-deaf action sequences, without ever truly illustrating the depth of gravity and torment of this whole game show. For example, about halfway through the film, Ben thinks he’s found sanctuary in Michael Cera’s Elton Parrakis. There’s virtually no tension when the Hunters show up because he has the entire house rigged with “Home Alone” style contraptions that he’s more than proficient at. It’s meant to be a fun relief against The Network falling completely flat. Even the deaths of other contestants like Martin Herlihy’s Jansky or Katy O’Brian’s Laughlin elicit laughs because it’s easier to mock their stupidity for getting caught, rather than taking advantage of ordinary people.

The film makes us complicit in the pleasure that comes from watching Ben escape hunters like Lee Pace’s McCone, but it never seems interested in interrogating that. By openly and bluntly declaring “these aspects of our totalitarian society are evil,” Wright and Bacall absolve the audience of their participation. Network manipulation tactics, like deepfakes, invasive surveillance apps, and contempt for candidates who actually won, ring so false. Ben hardly seems tormented upon learning that the show is rigged against him but merely angry and annoyed. This anger is devoid of despair or tension, meaning he has little doubt about his chances of making it out alive. “The Running Man” is rather toothless and unfortunately pulls out of the game every chance he gets. But make sure you drink your Monster Energy and Liquid Death, folks.

Dystopian science fiction stories have always been popular because they exaggerately reflect the worst aspects of our culture. The only problem with Wright’s “Running Man” is that the dystopia has already become mainstream. For its adaptation to truly make an impact, it really needed to move beyond the safe veneer of a Paramount Pictures studio action comedy, and it’s simply not up to the task. Even the “Hunger Games” films managed to strike a better balance between introspection and entertainment.

Even though Wright’s adaptation is closer in tone to the 1987 film, at least this has no qualms about being a ridiculously over-the-top Schwarzenegger action flick. Director Paul Michael Glaser satirizing the Paul Verhoeven regime still manages to make some horrifying observations about the sordid nature of the game and, best of all, it fulfills the promise of a visually pleasing action film.

The cop ending here tries to have it both ways by allowing Ben to avoid being backed into a corner and show up on the other side as a successful resistance figure, but it negates the catharsis of him cornering Killian on live television. It doesn’t have the benefit of really hammering home the dystopian horrors of this universe nor does Ben become an inadvertent extension of the network. Even the fact that his family is in danger is just a half-hearted attempt to raise issues that are too little and too late to have an impact. Armed with a bunch of stale jokes, weightless action sequences and a terrible ending, Wright’s disappointing “Running Man” already seems so late to the party.

“The Running Man” is now playing in theaters nationwide.