Glen Powell revealed at New York Comic Con 2025 that before he could take on the lead role of Ben Richards in the upcoming The Running Man, he had to get the official approval from Stephen King, author of the 1982 novel the movie is based on.

---

Waiting for the Author’s Verdict

Powell, 36, shared that director Edgar Wright initially offered him the role but noted that King would need to watch Powell’s previous film, Hit Man, first.

“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 said with a laugh.

Thankfully, King loved Powell’s performance, allowing him to officially secure the role of the everyman forced into a deadly televised game show.

---

Stephen King Approved the Screenplay Too

Director Edgar Wright also had to get King’s sign-off on the screenplay before filming could begin.

“Stephen King read the screenplay before we started filming… I was like, ‘This is so nerve-wracking to have to hand in our homework to [him],’” Wright admitted. “But he loved the screenplay, and so it was great.”

Wright’s adaptation is more faithful to the original novel than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film, while updating the story for a modern 21st-century setting.

---

About The Running Man

Powell stars as Ben Richards, a working-class man forced to participate in a deadly 30-day game show. Hunted by professional assassins and broadcast to a bloodthirsty public, Ben must outwit the Hunters and survive a nation addicted to watching him fall.

Powell highlighted the film’s relentless tension:

“Citizens can record [and] report you. They can take you out… There’s this sort of ever-present feeling of tension throughout the entire movie. It’s relentless.”

The film also pays homage to the 1987 version while remaining loyal to King’s original story.

---

Release Date

The Running Man premieres in theaters on November 14, 2025, promising high-octane action and suspense for fans of both King’s novel and the classic film adaptation.