Edgar Wright, best known for directing all three entries in the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, has signed on to direct a new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 dystopian novel The Running Man. Wright is currently reworking the story with his Scott Pilgrim vs. the World co-writer Michael Bacall, who will then flesh it out into a full script.
Originally published under King’s sci-fi pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Running Man was previously adapted in 1987 by director Paul Michael Glaser with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. Back in 2017, when Wright was asked which movie he’d like to remake, he named The Running Man. Now, that dream is becoming a reality. The Hot Fuzz director’s new version of King’s story will reportedly incorporate elements of both the original novel and the Schwarzenegger movie. X-Men: Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg is attached to produce Wright’s remake through his production company Genre Films.
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In both versions of the story, The Running Man is a game show in 2025 (or the late 2010s in the movie) in which contestants are mercilessly pursued by deadly hunters. If they can last 30 days in the game, they’re rewarded with $1 billion. In the original novel, Ben Richards takes part in the game to pay his daughter’s medical bills. In the movie, he’s a criminal who takes part in the game in exchange for a state pardon. Reality TV was relatively new when The Running Man first hit shelves – and when its first movie adaptation hit theaters, for that matter – so it’s about time the story was reimagined for the age of Kardashian.
Wright has signed on to a bunch of different projects throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s set to helm an adaptation of Simon Stephenson’s Set My Heart to Five from a screenplay penned by the author himself, an adaptation of Adrian McKinty’s The Chain from a screenplay by Kick-Ass’ Jane Goldman, and a sequel to Baby Driver. He’s also formed a new production company called Complete Fiction with collaborators Joe Cornish, Nira Park, and Rachel Prior, which is currently working on several projects for Netflix.
King’s original novel had a much more satirical bent than the Schwarzenegger movie. Hopefully, with Wright’s background in comedy, he can do a better job of translating the book’s satire to the screen. As reality television has become more and more prevalent and humanity’s capacity for violence continues to astound people, the themes of The Running Man ring truer now more than ever.
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Source: Deadline