In the novel The Running Man, the Killian character is not the host, but is the producer of the deadly game show. The MC and host is called Bobby Thompson. Josh Brolin will be playing the central villain who is the TV executive, we now know who will play the host.
According to a report in Deadline, Colman Domingo has joined the cast of Edgar Wright’s new adaption of the Stephen King novel. Writing under the pen name of Richard Bachman, King’s story was previously adapted into the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle. In that adaption, the characters of Killian and Thompson were merged into Richard Dawson’s memorable villain.
Set in a dystopian America, the story centers on Ben Richards. He is a desperate man who needs money to pay for medical treatment for his seriously ill daughter. He participates in a violent reality show called The Running Man. He will be pursued across America by a team of hunters sent to kill him. The longer he survives, the more he wins.
Glen Powell has the lead role in the film. Alongside Powell and Brolin, The Running Man will co-star Karl Glusman, Katy O’Brian, and Daniel Ezra.
Wright is directing and has co-written the script with Michael Bacall. He produces alongside Nira Park and Simon Kinberg.
For the 1987 adaption, Christopher Reeve was once attached to play Ben Richards. When Schwarzenneger came on board the production, the film’s tone changed from a dark allegory to a humorous action film.
With Reeve, The Running Man movie was to follow an unemployed man who goes on a violent game show for a thirty-day period to feed his family. With director Paul Michael Glaser and Schwarzenegger in place, the protagonist became a condemned, but innocent, criminal forced into a three-hour gladiator-style game show by the justice system. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza wrote fifteen drafts of the script over the course of the 1987 film’s development.
The Running Man opens in cinemas on November 7th 2025.