Running Man Remake Brings In Barbie Star To Join Glen Powell
When Paramount first announced in February 2021 that Edgar Wright would be developing a revamped adaptation of The Running Man, they made it crystal clear that the film would be a much more faithful rendition of the 1982 novel written by Stephen King. While the 1987 film adaption starring Arnold Schwarzenegger certainly delivered plenty of that 80s pizzazz you’d come to expect, the sci-fi action flick lacked one major thing: the unadulterated star power of Michael Cera. Coming off his crowd-pleasing and scene-stealing portrayal of Allan in Barbie, Cera will be joining stars Glen Powell, Emilia Jones, Josh Brolin, and Lee Pace in a film that promises to be anything but boring.
Michael Cera Joins The Cast
While his exact character description has not been made available just yet, The Hollywood Reporter states that Cera will play a character labeled as a naïve rebel who tries to help Richards in his quest to outrun the hitmen and earn enough money to take care of his daughter.
The Running Man will be the first film that Cera and Wright have worked on together since the 2010 hit film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, a movie that would cement Wright as one of the brightest directors in Hollywood to keep an eye on. This will also mark a rare occasion where Cera makes an appearance in a non-comedy film, though with Wright at the helm, anything is possible.
The Running Man Remake
With an eye of keeping the integrity of the novel, The Running Man will follow the story of Ben Richards (Powell), a man in desperate need for money to help his sick daughter in a twisted and dystopian version of the year 2025. With limited options and a do-or-die mindset, Richards is forced to sign up for the most popular show around, The Running Man. The brutal reality show rewards contestants with large sums of money for evading a team of hitmen sent to kill them, meaning the longer a contestant survives, the more money that person makes.
In 2017, Wright was asked if he had free reign to remake any movie of his choosing, which film would it be. After some consideration, Wright stated that he would take on The Running Man, though he would strive to keep the darker and more nihilistic tone of the novel as opposed to a direct remake of the 1987 film, which played more to Schwarzenegger’s strengths as an action star.
In his own critique of the film, King noted the discrepancy between the meek and “scrawny” character description of Ben Richards in his novel and Schwarzenegger’s muscular physique and ability to easily handle any perceived threat in the film.
The Original Film
The 1987 film adaptation of The Running Man was directed by Paul Michael Glaser with a screenplay adaption written by Stephen E. de Souza, who also penned the 1985 Schwarzenegger-led film Commando. Equipped with a relatively robust $25 million budget, The Running Man grossed just over $38 million at the domestic box office. With lukewarm audience and critic reviews and a lackluster box office performance, The Running Man remains one of Schwarzenegger’s most disappointing films to date.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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