Between it being another Edgar Wright-directed movie and starring recent Hollywood favorite Glen Powell, The Running Man remake has been one of those especially exciting 2025 movie releases throughout the year. Now that it’s arrived and I’ve seen it, there’s one idea that I can’t shake about what could have been for the latest of Stephen King adaptations. SPOILERS are ahead.
I Think The Running Man Could Have Been Even Better As A TV Show
While on one hand I think Edgar Wright’s vision for the movie was absolutely made for the big screen, as I found it to be a fun popcorn movie full of nail-biting action and such, I can’t stop thinking about a missed opportunity that could have elevated the concept. Given that The Running Man is partly a commentary on reality television, and the lengths desperate contestants might go to and TV producers might push for the sake of entertainment value, one predominant thought I have is how it could have thrived even further as a television series.
I think it would have been really clever if The Running Man were a weekly TV show that partially used its reality TV framing to make viewers feel like they are watching the titular series, as Ben Richards is also trying to survive it. It would have been a lot more meta to feel like we’re tuning into the show … which could be compared to a very twisted and violent take on network shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race.
Some Of My Issues With The Running Man May Have Improved
Overall, I do like the movie as is. I mostly agree with our The Running Man review, which highlights its big changes to the story’s ending. However, the problems I do have with the Glen Powell-led movie could have been improved if The Running Man were a TV show. It’s over two hours, and it felt rushed to me, and I don’t love leaving a theater and feeling like there were too many ideas and not enough time to flesh it out on the big screen.
There are a few threads that I think, if they were explored more, would have made me enjoy The Running Man a lot more. For one, I felt like the movie didn’t do the best job of setting up the stakes of Ben Richards’ life. It was briefly suggested that his baby daughter, Kathy, was sick, and he felt desperate enough to try out for the high-stakes competition show, but I didn’t really feel this need from the movie itself.
Also, I really liked what was briefly established between Ben and William H. Macy’s Molie when he helps get him a disguise before revealing that he had planned to get him his next job. I was surprised to see that the only follow-up for his character was him possibly getting tortured without anything more. If this were a TV show, something like this relationship could have had more depth to it, rather than it feeling like Macy was giving basically a nothing cameo-ish role. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the third act! It felt a bit rushed to me.
Anyway, like I alluded to, I think The Running Man works as a movie. I had a blast watching it on the big screen. But watching it made me realize how solid this story would be as a TV show. Hey, maybe someday! Tons of upcoming book adaptations are taking the serial route these days.