Glen Powell had to wait to be approved by Stephen King before he could accept the lead role in The Running Man
Stephen King recently posted on social media about his reaction to Edgar Wright’s re-adaptation of The Running Man. King teased his positive reception, saying “New trailer: RUNNING MAN. BTW: I’ve seen it and it’s fantastic. DIE HARD for our time. A bipartisan thrill ride.” Glen Powell has the task of stepping into the shoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger for a new interpretation. However, Variety reports that Powell actually had to wait to get Stephen King’s approval before he could proceed with taking the role.
Per People, at New York Comic-Con, Powell explained,
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.”
He continued, “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.” Powell, then, talked about how this remake will differ from the beloved 80s movie, “The coolest part about this [film] that I’m just really excited about is Edgar decided to take this [story] — loyal to the book — out in the real world. Citizens can record [and] report you. They can take you out. So there’s this sort of, like, ever-present feeling of tension that’s throughout the entire movie. It’s relentless.”
Wright is directing The Running Man from a script he co-wrote with Michael Bacall and is producing the film with Nira Park and Simon Kinberg. Powell is joined in the cast by Katy O’Brian (who had a breakthrough role in Love Lies Bleeding and shared the screen with Powell in Twisters) as a contestant; Daniel Ezra, who played the character Spencer James on 106 episodes of the CW series All American; Josh Brolin (Outer Range), playing a TV executive who is the main villain; Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire) as a ruthless hunter; Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as a “naïve rebel who tries to help the desperate man”; Emilia Jones (CODA) as a “privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government“; David Zayas (Dexter) as a character named Richard Manuel; Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead) as the host of The Running Man, a violent reality show promising an outrageous cash prize; 6-foot-8-inch actor and former MMA fighter Chi Lewis-Parry (28 Years Later) as a runner; and Jayme Lawson (Sinners) and William H. Macy of Fargo and Boogie Nights in unspecified roles.
The Running Man hits theaters on November 14.
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