Stephen King Remake Receives Exciting News from Producer, 36 Years After Schwarzenegger's Original

Summary

The remake of The Running Man, directed by Edgar Wright, is progressing actively and could potentially start filming next year, according to producer Simon Kinberg.

The remake of The Running Man, based on a Stephen King novel and the original 1987 movie, revolves around a game show where criminals battle for survival in hopes of obtaining a government pardon. Kinberg enthusiastically discusses collaborating with Wright and their confirmed participation in the project.

The Running Man remake has received a highly positive update. The original 1987 film, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was based on Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) and centers around a game show where criminals must battle for their lives to gain a government pardon. In 2021, the remake was announced with Edgar Wright, the director of Scott Pilgrim, leading the project and Michael Bacall handling the screenplay. Additionally, it was revealed that Simon Kinberg, Audrey Chon, and Nira Park would be producing the remake.

In a recent interview with SlashFilm, Simon Kinberg discussed his excitement about collaborating with Edgar Wright on the Running Man remake. He expressed that they are actively working on the project and expressed hope that Edgar may direct it in the coming year.

Yeah, he's not only one of my all-time favorite directors but also one of my most beloved individuals – a truly remarkable person. Undoubtedly, he is a cinephile at heart. Currently, we are actively engaged in the process. He's collaborating closely with Michael Bacall on the script. With all our hopes, luck, and everything else in place, we aspire for Edgar to possibly direct it next year… What's truly fascinating is that, even before myself and Paramount embarked on the arduous journey of acquiring the remake rights, which was quite a complicated task, Edgar independently tweeted – and I diligently follow him across all platforms – that if there was ever one movie he would choose to remake, it would be Running Man.

The Time is Ripe for a The Running Man Remake

Competitive dystopian narratives, such as The Running Man by Schwarzenegger, have been quite prevalent in modern fiction over the years. Interestingly, King's 1982 novel marked his second exploration of such themes under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, following his 1979 work titled The Long Walk. In this earlier story, teenagers are subjected to a lethal competition wherein they face death if their speed falls below 4 miles per hour too frequently. Notably, both novels also exhibit certain loose resemblances to the 1948 Shirley Jackson short story, "The Lottery."

Your browser is not compatible with the video tag. The dystopian format of The Running Man has gained even more popularity over the years. This is evident in the success of The Hunger Games and the Japanese film Battle Royale, where teenagers are pitted against each other in deadly battles. These movies are based on novel adaptations. Additionally, a new Hunger Games movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is set to release in November.

The Running Man remake has the potential to thrive following the success of these recent films. Additionally, this adaptation comes at a time when Stephen King's works are seeing great success. Both the 2017 film It and its 2019 sequel, It: Chapter Two, were among the highest-grossing movies of their respective years, highlighting the ongoing popularity of his earlier works. Furthermore, other King-adapted movies like The Boogeyman, The Outsider, Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game, and Pet Sematary have received critical acclaim or achieved commercial success in the past five years.