So many of Stephen King’s books have been adapted into movies that you might think the prolific horror author just sits back and lets the filmmakers do whatever they want with them. That’s not the case, as evidenced by the amount of sway King had over the upcoming movie The Running Man. Before Glen Powell could officially get the lead role in the dystopian action flick, King had to give his blessing.
In an appearance at New York Comic Con, Powell, who has starred in movies like Twisters and Top Gun: Maverick, explained how The Running Man director Edgar Wright told him about King’s stipulation for the film.
“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 gonna watch Hit Man tonight,” Powell said, per People.
“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,” he added.
Luckily, King liked Powell’s turn in Hit Man, Richard Linklater’s dark crime rom-com from 2023, which starred Powell as an undercover police contractor who pretends to be a hired killer. Having gotten King’s approval, Powell was free to start filming The Running Man. First published in 1982 under King’s Richard Bachman pseudonym, the story follows a man who agrees to participate in a twisted game show where he must escape hunters who are trying to track and kill him. Survive for long enough and he’ll win a big prize. Lose, and, well…
The book had previously been adapted into a 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, though that was more of an American Gladiators-type take on the material. The 2025 movie will be more faithful to King’s original book.
Stephen King Read Script for the New Running Man, Too
Powell wasn’t the only person who had to wait to see what King thought of their work. At New York Comic Con, Wright revealed that the author took a look at the screenplay for the new Running Man.
“Stephen King read the screenplay before we started filming, and you know, Stephen King, he’s like the most famous English teacher in history,” Wright, director of films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz recalled. “And 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,” Wright finished.
