In the new edition of Film Stories magazine, Edgar Wright recalls the moment he sent Stephen King the script for The Running Man – and his thoughts on its new ending. Anyone who’s read Stephen King’s The Running Man – published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 – will know it’s markedly different from ... Exclusive: Stephen King approves of the new ending in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man
In the new edition of Film Stories magazine, Edgar Wright recalls the moment he sent Stephen King the script for The Running Man – and his thoughts on its new ending.
Anyone who’s read Stephen King’s The Running Man – published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 – will know it’s markedly different from the 1987 film adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Like the later film, The Running Man is set in a dystopian future America in which televisions are compulsory and members of the public are regularly prodded onto violent game shows. Protagonist Ben Richards, broke and desperate, signs up as a contestant on The Running Man – a televised blood sport in which its victims are hunted by armed killers.
Although it still has a glint of steely humour, the book is darker and more Orwellian than the spandex-filled, action-packed Schwarzenegger flick, directed by Paul Michael Glaser. But decades later, along comes Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright with his own take on The Running Man, co-written by Michael Bacall. It stars Glen Powell as a more everyday Ben Richards, going up against the collective might of a heartless TV corporation and the army of Hunters in its employ.
In the new edition of Film Stories magazine, available to purchase now, Wright talks exclusively to us about the challenges of adapting one of his favourite books – and the “exhausting” process of making a sci-fi action thriller where Powell is in almost every scene.
Here’s one other interesting snippet, though: Stephen King had final approval on the screenplay, and Wright recalls feeling some trepidation before he sent his draft to the master of modern horror.
Read more: The Running Man | What might Edgar Wright’s new adaptation of Stephen King’s novel look like?
“Possibly the most nerve-wracking day of the entire production was writing to King with an attachment of the screenplay and pressing send,” Wright told us.
Fortunately, King “loved” the script, according to Wright.
There was one particular element of King’s novel that Wright knew from the beginning that he would have to change, however: its ending. While we won’t describe it here, it’s fair to say that in light of certain early 21st century events, re-creating it on the big screen might have been considered in poor taste.
“Everybody knew at the outset that [the novel’s ending] wasn’t going to be part of this adaptation exactly the way,” Wright said.
The question was, would King approve of Wright and Bacall’s new conclusion?
“He realised even before he read it that we weren’t going to be doing the ending from the book,” Wright said. “And when [King] emailed back, he said, ‘I was very curious how you were going to tackle the ending, and I think you did a great job.’ So I was very happy with that.”
What is that new ending? We’ll have to wait until the 14th November 2025, when The Running Man hits UK cinemas, to find out.
In the meantime, Film Stories issue 57, which features our full, six-page interview with Edgar Wright among its 168 pages of fabulous stuff, is available now. You can even buy it with a Krull 4K Steelbook in our special, limited edition offer.
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