Just a couple of short weeks ago, Edgar Wright's zombie horror-comedy Shaun Of The Dead turned 20 years old. (We know, we feel it, too!) But with time inexorably marching on — running on, even — our attention is already being turned back to the British filmmaker's next movie, a new retooling of Stephen King's dystopian sci-fi novel The Running Man. Having already nabbed the highly in-demand Glen Powell to take on the Arnold Schwarzenegger role from the classic 1987 movie, Deadline are reporting that Wright has snapped up Love Lies Bleeding breakout Katy O'Brian to get her running shoes on and co-star in his latest.
Co-written by Wright and his Scott Pilgrim co-scribe Michael Bacall, early indications suggest that this version of The Running Man will see Powell playing less of the conventional tough guy Arnie inhabited back in the 80s, hewing closer instead to the Ben Richards of King's book. The core plot however, whilst less action and more thriller on the page, remains basically the same in both insomuch as the story revolves around a falsely convicted cop who's roped into a televised deathmatch in order to earn his freedom, 'running' against killers whilst the masses watch on, enrapt. It's a little Hunger Games, a little Battle Royale, very Stephen King (well, Richard Bachman, if we're being finicky — which we are!).
As for how O'Brian — who's also recently snagged a role in the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible movie — factors into The Running Man equation, that much remains yet to be revealed. But with Powell knowing a thing or two about revivifying beloved genre classics (hello Twisters, hello Top Gun Maverick), O'Brian knowing a thing or two about kicking ass and taking names, and Wright knowing a thing or two about making a bloody good bit of cinema, we'll be running and not walking to catch this when it hits cinemas on 21 November, 2025.