Summary
- Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man in 2025 will give the story a more contemporary feel, with a focus on social media and technology.
- The new adaptation promises to be more faithful to Stephen King’s novel, offering a different take from the 1987 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- The decision to set The Running Man in 2025 mirrors the timeline of the original novel, creating a fascinating parallel for viewers to explore.
Edgar Wright’s much anticipated Stephen King adaptation, The Running Man is repeating a chilling stunt with the movie’s 2025 release date plan. The original adaptation starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and was released in 1987, to moderate box office and critical success. Seeing the story reimagined is very exciting, with the prospect of seeing the film in 2025 adding a meta element to Wright’s remake.
Although the Schwarzenegger film was set sometime between 2017 and 2019, Stephen King’s novel was actually set in 2025. While this subtle difference didn’t matter much in 1987, it creates a fascinating parallel for the remake. With Twisters‘ Glen Powell taking the lead as the convict runner trying to outrun so-called stalkers in order to win a life-changing prize on a reality show, this new Running Man movie already has a different feel. For a closer look at what form the adaptation might take, viewers can look to another dystopian movie that had an identical release date plan.
Related
10 Ways Edgar Wright’s The Running Man Remake Will Be Different From Schwarzenegger’s Version
Edgar Wright is directing an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man, which will be completely unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 version.
The Running Man’s 2025 Release Date Repeats 1984’s Dystopian Setting Trick
Both The Running Man And 1984 Are Released In The Years Their Books Are Set In
Just as The Running Man remake releases in 2025, the same year the dystopian Stephen King book is set in, the acclaimed adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 was also released in 1984. Given this connection, The Running Man could feel especially eerie. Since the book was King’s prediction of what the world might look like in 2025, it will be fascinating to see how the movie reflects the world with which we’re all familiar. Whatever path Edgar Wright takes with the adaptation, setting the film in 2025 will make The Running Man just as resonant when it releases as 1984 was in 1984.
Although the original
Running Man
enjoys cult status, it is not as well regarded as the seminal
1984
.
Both 1984 and The Running Man have some thematic similarities. Both stories address surveillance, authoritarianism, and propaganda while critiquing aspects of contemporary society. Although the original Running Man enjoys cult status, it is not as well regarded as the seminal 1984. However, the 2025 release date plan may help make the Stephen King story feel even more relevant and give it a greater cultural cache.
How The Running Man Remake’s 2025 Release Date Will Make It Different From The 1987 Original
The Running Man Remake Being Set In 2025 Could Change Things
In 1987, a 21st-century setting was distinctly futuristic. However, seeing an alternate 2025 in 2025 will give Wright’s Running Man a very different and more contemporary feel. It will be interesting to see how dystopian the setting in Edgar Wright’s adaptation will be, and whether he will intertwine modern technology and social media into the story at all. Both the book and the original film did not include the social media angle, in particular, so seeing how this affects the story could be fascinating.
Wright is already promising a more faithful adaptation of King’s book than the 1987 version. In an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he expressed his belief that the original film “didn’t really adapt the book”, suggesting that the 2025 Running Man will be a very different take on the story. This makes Edgar Wright’s The Running Man a very exciting prospect, with a book-accurate 2025 setting guaranteed to produce a very different kind of viewing experience.
The Running Man
Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, The Running Man is a sci-fi action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Captain Ben Richards, a former cop who’s forced to compete in a deadly game show where criminals fight for their lives. The 1987 movie is based on a Stephen King novel under his pen name Richard Bachman.
- Director
- Paul Michael Glaser
- Release Date
- November 13, 1987
- Writers
- Steven E. de Souza
- Budget
- $27 million