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Edgar Wright’s The Running Man Opens Friday as Early Reviews Question Its Satirical Bite

Critics highlight sleek set pieces but say the new adaptation favors style over sharper commentary.

Overview

  • Paramount releases Edgar Wright’s re-adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novella in U.S. theaters on Nov. 14 with Glen Powell as Ben Richards.
  • Reviewers say the film hews closer to the book than the 1987 Schwarzenegger movie, restoring the 30‑day survival chase and a media-dominated dystopia.
  • Early critiques praise Wright’s craft and propulsive action while faulting tonal unevenness and underexplored themes like AI deepfakes, surveillance and class divides.
  • Glen Powell’s performance draws mixed notes from outlets that find him charismatic yet not fully channeling the character’s anger and urgency.
  • Stephen King publicly praised the movie and likened it to Die Hard, as coverage also spotlights Josh Brolin’s producer, Colman Domingo’s host, Lee Pace’s hunter and a standout Michael Cera sequence, with an R rating and a 133-minute runtime reported.