The post-pandemic theatrical market is tough, and often unfair. For non-event films, being good isn’t enough – if something doesn’t check every box, more often than not, audiences will just stay home. Thus, movies that deserved to become singles or doubles end up whiffing, and get tagged with the dreaded label of “box office bomb.”
2025’s The Running Man is one of those. Directed by Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell, this new adaptation of the Stephen King book of the same name arrived with plenty of hype and hope, but reviews were ultimately mixed-to-positive: 63% on Rotten Tomatoes (still Fresh, but only just) and 56 on Metacritic. Facing fierce competition from Now You See Me: Now You Don’t and the second week of Predator: Badlands, that just wasn’t enough to get butts in seats. On a reported budget of $110 million, The Running Man made just $68 million worldwide.
But this movie deserves a second chance at finding an audience, and now, it has one. As of January 13, The Running Man is available on Paramount Plus. If you’re still on the fence, I’d encourage you to check this one out.
The Running Man Delivers Thrilling Action & Movie Star Charm
Though it shares a title and source material with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 version, the two movies are dramatically different. In pursuing this new adaptation, Wright sought to stick much closer to King’s story, and the result is a pretty propulsive dystopian thriller. Powell stars as Ben Richards, a working class hothead whose previous struggle against inhumane working conditions got him blacklisted. To get the medicine his infant daughter needs, he chooses to participate in a violent TV game show called The Running Man, which no one really walks away from.
After staring down Josh Brolin’s villainous producer and Colman Domingo’s wildly charismatic host, Ben is sent on the run, earning money every day he remains free. But the show’s team of hunters are on his tail, along with any and all law enforcement and some overeager citizen viewers. If he’s caught, he’s killed spectacularly for the bloodthirsty viewers at home.
Wright’s film lacks some of the biting commentary of King’s book, but the brightened tone is all in service of showing us a good time. Powell is in full movie star mode, getting to lean into both his comedic talents and his stuntwork – which, as befits a Tom Cruise protégé, he did much of himself. Getting to spend time with him as an action hero is half the fun, and despite the financial returns, I hope he pursues more roles like this in the future.
It helps that Wright provides him with some pretty great set pieces. The director’s characteristic visual flourishes are toned down in The Running Man, but his sense for action rhythm is as good as it’s always been. Ben’s first encounter with the hunters in a Boston hostel is a real standout, as is a sequence with returning Wright collaborator Michael Cera, which slips into absurdity and gets the laughter going.