Josh Brolin Set To Play The Villain in Edgar Wright's THE RUNNING MAN
Josh Brolin is set to star alongside Glen Powell in Edgar Wright’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man. Brolin will take on the role of the main villain in the story.
The report says that Brolin “will play the antagonist behind the violent reality show.”
The Running Man is a dystopian story set in a future society where the government controls everything, the story follows Ben Richards, a desperate and impoverished man who participates in a deadly game show called "The Running Man" to win money for his family.
The game involves Richards being hunted by professional killers while trying to evade capture for a month. As he navigates through a decaying and dangerous urban landscape, Richards becomes a symbol of resistance against the oppressive government.
Powell previously talked about the project, saying: "I've been an Edgar Wright fan my whole life. And talking to him about Running Man, what's been really incredible is his take on it. It's very much not the original Schwarzenegger flick, it's much more grounded in the Stephen King (novella) version.
“While I like the original 1987 film, it is very different from the story that King wrote, so I’m actually very excited about the fact that Wright’s film will be much closer to the source material.”
Wright previously discussed his vision for the film and how he wants it to be a true adaptation of the book, saying: "I think in this day and age as well is like in terms of like, you know I think when remakes are done well is if there's something else to add or there's a different take on it.”
He continued: “So I think the problem is sometimes recently like remakes are just kind of facsimiles of the original film and I don't really get that excited about a lot of them because they feel like sort of karaoke versions of the originals.”
Wright added: “Obviously back in like the '70s and '80s you had ones where they were additive like Philip Kauffman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers or John Carpenter's The Thing or David Cronenberg's The Fly; it's taking something and doing something interesting with it.'“
He goes on to say: "In terms of like things that I've been (doing), like you know, The Running Man which is something that is in active development. Why is that interesting to me? I like the film but I like the book more and they didn't really adapt the book.”
He said: “Even as a teenager when I saw the Schwarzenegger film I was like, 'Oh this isn't like the book at all,' and I think nobody's adapted that book.
“So when that came up I was thinking you know and Simon Kinberg says 'Do you have any interest in The Running Man?' I said, 'You know what I've often thought that that book is is something like crying out to be adapted.' Now that doesn't mean that it's easy but like it is something that we are working on, yes, I'll say that much."
The film, which also has cast Karl Glusman, Katy O’Brian and Daniel Ezra, has a November 21, 2025 release date. Wright is also co-writing the script with Michael Bacall, and will produce with his producing partner Nira Park and Simon Kinberg. George Linder will executive produce.
Source: Deadline