Edgar Wright promises an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The running man which will be more faithful to the book, while also bringing “some nods to the 1980s film”.
The writer-director spoke about the adaptation process and what fans can expect from the Paramount Pictures film, released in theaters November 14, while he was joined on New York Comic Con’s Empire Stage by stars Glen Powell and Lee Pace. Before the release of the trailer, below, and following a special message and introduction from fellow actor Colman Domingo, Wright addressed a 2017 tweet about his desire to do the adaptation, highlighting Stephen King’s reading. The running man when he was a teenager.
“I read it before I saw the 1987 film, so when I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger’s version, which was very loosely based on the book, I always felt like there was a whole part of the story that just hadn’t been adapted,” he said. “My favorite remakes are the ones that do something different from the others. So it’s not an attempt to remake this movie. It’s something more faithful to the book, so that was what was exciting for me.”
As part of this adaptation process, Wright said King saw the script and approved it. “He’s like the most famous English teacher in history,” the director said with a laugh. “I was with Michael Bacall, who wrote the movie with me, and I was like, “It’s so nerve-wracking to have to hand in our homework to Stephen King.” But he loved the script, so it was great. It was real kismet. Wright later added that King, in an email, described the adaptation as “”more faithful to the book to keep the fans happy enough to keep me on my toes and excited. And I thought, ‘OK, I’ll take that.’
While discussing his own take on the character and how much he took from the book and Schwarzenegger’s performance, Powell joked, “As far as what I took away from Arnold, I do the whole performance with an Austrian accent,” before addressing his take. “Ben Richards is the ultimate underdog. He’s a normal guy taking on the most powerful oppressive system. So there are no higher stakes or lower odds.”
He continued: “When Edgar and I started talking about this role, I tried to be a nice guy in real life, but he says, I need Glen in a bad mood. I need to activate something a little different in you. And so Ben Richards, in the book, is very frustrated with the system. He’s been pushed down. He’s trying to provide for his family, and all options have been taken away from him to achieve this. So this is a man who is just trying to provide for his family. in a place that doesn’t allow him to do that, and there is growing frustration and anger there. I need to free this part of my personality.
At one point during the panel, Powell revealed that King approved of his casting after watching his recent film. Hitman. “The only interaction I had was when Edgar offered me this film, and I was like ‘yes.’ He says, “You’re my Ben Richards,” and I say, “Let’s go.” Later that night you’re like, ‘By the way, you must be approved by Stephen King,'” Powell recalls. “He says he’s going to look Hitman So tonight I had to wait all night for Stephen King to watch Hitman and I hope I still had the part in the morning.
Speaking about Powell’s work on the film, Wright and Pace both highlighted the actor’s commitment. “There’s something great about making an action movie around a character who is vulnerable and fallible and who you think is going to die at any moment,” Wright said. “It was a really ambitious shoot, a grueling shoot, and if I had had someone less hard-working and diligent than Glen, I just wouldn’t have made it.”
“Talk about someone who gives 1,000 percent and makes it look easy,” Pace added. “He shows up every day with a level of commitment that can bring that same commitment out of our stages.”
Pace, speaking about his own character and his work on the film, said he loved “playing characters, playing people who are different from me and weird.” He continued: “[Wright] described this ghost pursuing Ben Richards, this executioner. And I thought it would be a good time. To help portray Evan McCone, Pace worked closely with the costume designer. “I love developing the costume,” he said. “We had a really good time collaborating and figuring out what this guy was going to be like because he’s a showman. She’s the star of this reality show. He has to introduce himself. He has to introduce himself. So we found many different ways to adapt its appearance. The mask was the key to this for many reasons. I think the mask is really cool.
While discussing their own characters, the panel took a moment to acknowledge several other stars of the film, including Martin Herlihy, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Daniel Ezra and Katie O’Brien, who worked with Powell on Twists. “He and Glen together are such an exciting and fun double act,” Wright said, speaking to Cera. The director also highlighted Domingo’s showmanship and spirit as a performer, which easily won over the extras on set. “He came in and the crowd of extras were eating out of his hand at the end of the day. They were chanting his character’s name,” Wright said.
Going beyond casting and talking about the film’s world-building, Wright explained that they avoided clarifying the year the film was set in to avoid the problems that often accompany the use of technology in futuristic sci-fi, as well as to talk about King’s universe.
“The book was written in 1982 and is set in 2025, and the dust jacket of the 1982 book says, ‘In 2025, the best men aren’t running for president. They’re running for their lives.’ It’s on the jacket of the book, so the fact that this movie is coming out in 2025 is crazy,” Wright mused.
He continued. “We don’t say in the movie what year it is. It’s not in the script, and we don’t say it, and we just act like it’s a different tomorrow. As a sci-fi fan, the movies never go far enough. 2001[: A Space Odyssey] is one of my favorite movies of all time, but also, I’m sad that we’re not [using] 2001 technology again. So we decided not to spend a year on it, to just imagine that it would be a different tomorrow. But I think Stephen King fans will be pleased with many of the direct-from-the-script products included here. Among them, a nod to a soda brand, breakfast cereal and Schwarzenegger on a $100 bill.
“We called him before we started filming, because he gave us permission to put it on my money, and I told him on the call, ‘We made you the 100.’ He said, “I’m very happy about it,” Wright recalled.
Speaking about the location details and production design of the film’s universe, Wright pointed out that filming took place in three different countries, including Bulgaria and Scotland. “It’s like a road movie,” the director explained. “What was kind of crazy about making this movie was that sometimes it felt like we were putting on a show. My production designer told me that because there were so many moving parts and there were so many locations – because Ben Richards was on the run – there were only 168 locations and sets in the movie. That was probably the most ambitious thing for me.”
Speaking about how they created the world that Ben exists in, “One of the biggest differences from the previous adaptation, and more faithful to the book, is that the game takes place in the world,” Wright said. “So Ben Richards plays the world’s deadliest game of hide and seek with Lee as the lead hunter on your tail. In the 1987 film, they keep him confined to an underground arena instead.”
Wright pointed to decades of reality television shows since the 1980s film, which helped shape the look of the film, which the director described as a cross between UFC and American idol. “Since the 1982 book, we now have almost 30 years of reality shows that are much closer to what was in the book. So it was an incredible thing to make this movie, choosing elements from reality shows from around the world – the formats and design of it.”
Powell noted that some of the film’s stark contrast between the game and the real world comes through in the characters of Domingo and Josh Brolin, “who are in this fun, bright reality world, and I’m a guy who’s like, ‘this shit is real to me. It’s life and death.'”
