If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Edgar Wright's Running Man adaptation might shoot next year, says producer

Running towards the starting line.

The Running Man (1987) — Image credit: Tri-Star Pictures

News by Fran Ruiz,

Published on Mon Oct 30 2023

Back in early 2021, we learned that a new adaptation of Stephen King's (under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) novel The Running Man was in development at Paramount. Even more surprising was the news that Edgar Wright (of Cornetto Trilogy and Scott Pilgrim fame) was attached to helm the project. Now, it sounds like it's finally coming together, and the possibility of shooting next year is tangible.

The update came through an extensive Slash Film interview with producer Simon Kinberg centered on his Apple TV+ series Invasion. The chat eventually led into the filmmaker's busy past, which includes working on Fox's X-Men movies and several Star Wars projects over at Lucasfilm. At some point, The Running Man was brought up, and he was happy to comment on the status of the movie: "We are working on it actively. He's actively working on the script with Michael Bacall. And our hope would be that it is a movie that, again, all fingers crossed and luck and everything else go our way, that Edgar could maybe direct next year."

He also remembers that Edgar Wright was already interested in "remaking" The Running Man (1987), led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, before Paramount started looking into nabbing the remake rights. The 2021 announcement, however, stated that Wright and the studio were approaching it from a different angle, instead choosing to stick close to the original source material. Kinberg later elaborated that he's been chasing Wright for a good while: "And I've chased Edgar for everything. I've chased Edgar for X-Men movies. I've chased him for literally every possible thing. We have talked about every movie. So yeah, this one would be a big dream."

Of course, the project could get stuck and fall through if the script isn't where it needs to be and Wright jumps to another of his many in-development projects, among which we can find The Chain (an adaptation of the 2019 novel of the same name) and Grasshopper Jungle (based on a 2014 young adult novel), though the latter has been on hold for quite some time now.

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out our guides to upcoming movies, upcoming TV shows, upcoming comics, and upcoming comic conventions. If you're looking for specific franchises or genres, we have all the upcoming MCU, upcoming Star Wars, upcoming Star Trek, and upcoming DC movies & TV for you. If you're a fan of superheroes and not specific to just Marvel or DC, we have overall guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and upcoming superhero TV shows (and new seasons) as well.