Home Movie News Edgar Wright To Direct Film Adaptation Of Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’

Edgar Wright To Direct Film Adaptation Of Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’

by Dave Elliott

Edgar Wright To Direct Film Adaptation Of Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’

Edgar Wright has been tapped by Paramount Pictures for a new adaptation of Stephen King novel ‘The Running Man’ it has been revealed.

First published in 1982 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, ‘The Running Man’ is set in the totalitarian dystopian future of… 2025… The story follows Ben Richards, an impoverished resident of Co-Op City, who puts himself forward to appear on the Games Network, a government-operated tv station that runs violent game shows, in order to earn enough money to get medical care for his critically ill daughter. He is selected for a show called ‘The Running Man’, where the contestant is declared an enemy of the state, and (after being given a 12hr head start), he is hunted by an elite team of hitmen employed by the network. He earns money for every hour he stays alive, and also for any hitman he kills. If he survives 30 days, he gets the grand prize of one billion dollars.

Edgar Wright is best known for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on ‘Spaced’ and the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, along with directing ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’, and the music/action film ‘Baby Driver’. More recently, his Sparks documentary ‘The Sparks Brothers’ has garnered critical acclaim, and his next film, ‘Last Night in Soho’, is a psychological horror that features the final performances of both Diana Rigg and Margaret Nolan.

This, of course, is not the first time ‘The Running Man’ has been adapted for the screen. In 1987, Paul Michael Glaser directed a version that featured Arnold Schwarzenegger in the leading role, although that version differed substantially from the original novel. This new adaptation will go back to the original text and be a far more faithful version, rather than a remake of the Schwarzenegger film.

Edgar Wright is set as director and will co-write the story alongside Michael Bacall, who previously worked with Edgar on ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’, and also wrote the ’21 Jump Street’ and ’22 Jump Street’ films. Simon Kinberg (‘The Martian’, ‘Logan’, ‘Deadpool’) will produce through his Genre Films company, alongside Nira Park from Wright’s Complete Fiction, and Genre Films’ Audrey Chon (‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘Poltergeist’).

‘The Running Man’ is still considered “in development” at the moment, so things may change, but we’ll let you know if and when we hear more.

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