Stephen King’s classic dystopian novel The Running Man is coming back to screens after over three decades with a new Paramount film directed by Baby Driver writer/director Edgar Wright.
King originally published The Running Man in 1982 under his pseudonym Richard Bachman before releasing it under his own name in 1985. It was then made into film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger just two years later. The film originally received mixed reviews, but has recently been praised for its accurate predictions on 21st century events. The official summary of King’s book reads:
It is 2025 and reality TV has progressed to the point where people are willing to wager their lives in exchange for a chance at enormous wealth. Ben Richards is desperate – he needs money to treat his daughter’s illness. His last chance is entering a game show called The Running Man where the objective is to elude police and specially trained trackers for a month. The reward is a cool billion dollars. The catch is that everyone else on the planet is watching and willing to turn him in for a reward.
Edgar Wright will be working with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World screenwriter Michael Bacall to create an new adaptation of the story that will remain as true as possible to the original novel. While both will be involved in the process, Bacall is set to pen the script. There is not much more information available yet, but with Wright’s highly anticipated film Last Night In Soho coming out in October, it looks like this will be his next big project.
Fans of both King and Wright should get excited about this film, and keep an eye out here for more details as they become available.
