The 2025 adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Running Man will surely further cement Glen Powell’s status as a leading action icon. The role will see him portraying Ben Richards, a reality TV contestant literally fighting for his life in the primetime slot. Per the previews, Powell seems to be the perfect casting choice for the movie. But as it turns out, King himself could have stopped Powell from landing the role. It was only after the author saw him in another feature that the Top Gun: Maverick star was able to sign up.
According to the report by People Magazine, Powell talked about King’s stamp of approval during the New York Comic Con. The Twisters actor said that, even though director Edgar Wright had already offered him the part, the final confirmation lay in King’s hands. Luckily, he had to make a decision after watching one of Powell’s best movies:
“Edgar offered me this movie, and I was like, ‘Yes.’ I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’ And then, like, later that night [Edgar says], ‘By the way, like, you have to be approved by Stephen King. He’s going to watch Hit Man tonight.’
“And so I had to wait overnight for Stephen King to watch Hit Man and hope that I still had the role in the morning. It’s terrible.”
Nevertheless, Powell’s casting wasn’t the only decision that Stephen King helped with. The author is usually involved in his adaptations, with many directors seeking King’s advice when it comes to key aspects of his movies. Wright, director and also co-writer, felt that the author also had to give his approval to the film’s script. Wright shared the following with the audience at New York Comic Con:
“Stephen King read the screenplay before we started filming, and you know, Stephen King, he’s like the most famous English teacher in history… I was like, ‘This is so nerve-wracking to have to hand in our homework to [him].’ But he loved the screenplay, and so it was great.”
A Different Kind of Stephen King Adaptation
The Running Man is not your average Stephen King book. Therefore, it will likely not be your average Stephen King movie. Instead of the usual horror story, King played with the dystopian action genre, often adding in the graphic violence (yes, it also works in literary form, and The Running Man is an awesome example), and a bleak ending. It is not horror, but it is still scary nonetheless.
Wright’s version of The Running Man will probably be more faithful to the book than the previous 1987 adaptation, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. But this doesn’t mean the director didn’t make a few changes. Changes that Stephen King himself also had to approve. Among those is the ending, which Wright has already addressed as one of the details that made him very nervous in terms of the author’s reception. However, it appears that he was able to convince King that his vision could also work: “He said we did a ‘great job,’ so I was very happy with that.” The Running Man is set to be released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on November 14, 2025.