The cast ofThe Running Manjust keeps getting better, and Edgar Wright is adding yet another former Marvel villain to the mix:Lee Pace is joining fellow MCU vet Josh Brolin in Wright’s upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s classic dystopian thriller. Both Pace and Brolin will be playing villains in the film, which stars Glen Powell as protagonist Ben Richards, a.k.a. the titular running man.
THRreports that Lee Pace has joined the cast ofThe Running Man, Edgar Wright’s new adaptation of the classic 1982 novel, which was previously adapted into a 1987 action thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman,The Running Manis set in a dystopian 2025 ruled by an ultra-wealthy minority, and if you think that sounds prescient as hell, just wait: the only way regular working-class folks can gain financial security is by participating in one of several reality competition shows, including the deadly titular event, in which contestants are given a 12-hour head-start to outrun skilled assassins.
Josh Brolin Will Terrorize Glen Powell for Dystopian Thrills in The Running Man
Josh Brolin will play the producer of the violent reality show in Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Stephen King’s classic dystopian thriller.
Here’s the full synopsis forThe Running Man:
Ben Richards is a desperate man. With no job, no money, no way out, and a young daughter in need of proper medical attention, he must turn to the only possibility of striking it rich in this near-future dystopian America: participating in the ultra-violent TV programming of the government-sanctioned Games Network. Ben soon finds himself selected as a contestant on the biggest and the best that the Games Network has to offer: “The Running Man,” a no-holds-barred thirty-day struggle to stay alive as public enemy number one, relentlessly hunted by an elite strike force bent on killing him as quickly as possible in front of an audience all-too eager to see that happen. It means a billion dollars in prize money if he can live for the next month. No one has ever survived longer than eight days. But desperation can push a person do things they never thought possible—and Ben Richards is willing to go the distance in this ultimate game of life and death….
Pace will play the chief hunter who works for the insidious TV network,overseen by Brolin’s character.The Running Manalso stars Katy O’Brian ofLove Lies Bleedingas a fellow contestant running for her life for the chance to win a million dollars.
The Running Man Is One of Two Dystopian Stephen King Thrillers in the Works
Paramount will releaseThe Running Manin 2025. In the meantime, Lionsgate is cooking up its own dystopian Stephen King adaptation withThe Long Walk. Francis Lawrence is bringing some of hisHunger Gamesexpertise to that film, which could easily be set in the same world asThe Running Man. InThe Long Walk, 100 boys participate in a grueling annual competition (the titular walk) in which they must walk constantly without rest, and maintain a strict pace of four miles per hour. The last boy standing wins the fabled “Prize,” and will receive anything he desires for the rest of his life.
The Long Walkfinally went into production this summer from a screenplay by JT Mollner, the director of this year’s surprise genre hitStrange Darling. Headlining the cast ofThe Long Walkare Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) and David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus). They’re joined by Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit), Garrett Wareing (Ransom Canyon), Tut Nyuot (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Charlie Plummer (Spontaneous), Ben Wang (American Born Chinese), Jordan Gonzalez (Pretty Little Liars: Summer School), and Joshua Odjick (Bones of Crows).
The Running Man
Set in 2025, a game show called The Running Man has people chased by murderous Hunters across the world to win money.
