Tag: The Running Man

'The Running Man': Emilia Jones & Michael Cera Join Glen Powell In Edgar Wright's Sci-Fi Action Remake
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‘The Running Man’: Emilia Jones & Michael Cera Join Glen Powell In Edgar Wright’s Sci-Fi Action Remake

Filming on Edgar Wright‘s book-accurate take on “The Running Man” is expected to begin in London early next year, and the British filmmaker is rounding out his cast for the Stephen King adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, new actors have joined the action sci-fi pic, as both Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key,” “CODA”) and Michael Cera (“Barbie”) nabbed key parts. This bit of casting makes for a “Scott Pilgrim” reunion, given that Wright and Cera previously worked on that comic book flick and the revival anime series “Scott Pilgrim: Takes Off” on Netflix.

Other recent additions to the remake’s call-sheet include Josh Brolin (“Deadpool 2,” “Sicario,” “Avengers: Endgame”), Lee Pace (“Foundation,” “The Hobbit” trilogy, “Guardians of The Galaxy”), Katy O’Brien (“The Mandalorian,” “Love Lies Bleeding,” ‘Ant-Man 3″), and Jayme Lawson (“The Batman,” “How To Blow Up A Pipeline”).

This new film is expected to see Ben Richards (Powell), a desperate father looking to care for his sickly daughter, and in that desperation, becomes a contestant on a deadly game show in the hopes of earning money to pay for the daughter’s care/recovery from an illness. The previous incarnation saw Richards, a police officer, framed for a massacre he didn’t commit and escape a high-tech prison only to wind up on the game show after being captured at an airport.

Of course, the original film was praised and remembered for its satirical tone, which is expected to carry over given Wright’s comedic career, even if not all the plot elements and characters will.

Jones is expected to play a role not too dissimilar to the Amber Mendez part that was portrayed by actress María Conchita Alonso in the original movie that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that film, the character works for the network and is kidnapped by Richards only to eventually help him, in turn, she ends up a forced contestant herself.

While Cera is expected to play a rebel, possibly taking cues from Marvin J. McIntyre’s tech-savvy role of Weiss.

“The Running Man” will be released by Paramount Pictures on November 21, 2025. Earlier that month, we’ll see the return of the “Predator” franchise to the big screen with “Predator: Badlands” coming out on November 7.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Lee Pace Will Hunt Glen Powell In Edgar Wright's 'The Running Man' Remake
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Lee Pace To Hunt Glen Powell In Edgar Wright’s ‘The Running Man’ Remake

Actor Lee Pace (“Foundation”) is the latest addition to the cast of Edgar Wright‘s remake of “The Running Man, the sci-fi action film based on the Stephen King novel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pace is expected to be playing the chief hunter on the game show. Referred to as Stalkers in the original film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, they are antagonists who go around killing contestants known as runners.

He joins Glen Powell and Josh Brolin on the call-sheet.

Also, actress Katy O’Brian (“Star Wars,” “Love Lives Bleeding”) has joined the fray and will play a fellow contestant alongside Ben Richards (Powell).

Pace is no stranger to blockbuster genre film projects, having worked on “The Hobbit” trilogy, “Guardians of The Galaxy,” and “Captain Marvel.”

Filming is set to begin next year in London, and we can add that Wright is reuniting with longtime production designer Marcus Rowland. Paramount Pictures has given the sci-fi remake a release date of November 21, 2025, and I’m sure we’ll learn of more high-profile additions to the cast in the coming weeks.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

'The Running Man': Josh Brolin Playing Villaneous Game Show Puppetmaster In Edgar Wright's Sci-Fi Remake
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‘The Running Man’: Josh Brolin Playing Villainous Game Show Puppetmaster In Edgar Wright’s Sci-Fi Remake

During a New York Comic-Con Panel hosted by Collider, actor Josh Brolin revealed he’s joined the cast of Edgar Wright‘s “The Running Man.” The film is based on the Stephen King novel that was previously adapted into the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led sci-fi thriller from 1987 and focused on a man wrongfully convicted of a massacre. Forced to compete in a to-the-death game show, where average men have to face down veteran “slayers” who were outfitted with various deadly weapons and colorful costumes.

Trade reports are claiming that Brolin will be playing a villain in the film, potentially the architect or host of the game show. Making him the main antagonist of this new incarnation.

Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”) had been previously announced as the new Ben Richards, taking up the role from Schwarzenegger, and the new film is said to be closer to the original novel. The King novel differs a bit from the feature film as Richards willingly volunteers to compete on the show to afford medicine for his sickly daughter and aims to potentially sacrifice himself in order to help her.

Brolin isn’t a stranger to genre projects, having played Thanos in multiple MCU movies, a baddie in Robert Rodriguez’s zombie flick “Planet Terror,” Cable in “Deadpool 2,” and has a supporting role in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” trilogy.

Wright’s remake is set to be released on November 21, 2025, by Paramount Pictures.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Edgar Wright To Direct Sony's 'Barbarella' Remake Starring Sydney Sweeney As The Cosmic Heroine
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Edgar Wright To Direct & Jane Goldman To Co-Write Sony’s ‘Barbarella’ Remake Of Sexy Comic Book Flick Starring Sydney Sweeney

After months of rumblings that Edgar Wright (“Last Night In Soho,” “Baby Driver”) is indeed returning to the world of comic book movies after giving us the Toronto-set “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” and developing “Ant-Man” for Marvel Studios (before exiting as director over creative differences), as Deadline and other trades are now backing up claims that he’s attached to helm Sony Pictures‘ remake of the classic 1960s sci-fi movie “Barbarella.”

That’s not only it; veteran genre screenwriter Jane Goldman will co-write with her daughter, Honey Ross.

The original pic from 1968 that starred a young Jane Fonda was an adaptation of the French comics from Jean-Claude Forest and attempted to infuse the sexual liberation movement as Barbarella, a secret agent who had multiple romantic partners on a bizarre alien planet while trying to find an evil scientist named Duran Duran and stop his dastardly plans. Actress Sydney Sweeney (“Euphoria”) had been previously tapped by the studio to play the titular heroine.

The setting is the planet Lythion in the year 40,000, when Barbarella (Fonda) makes a forced landing while travelling through space. She acts like a female James Bond, vanquishing evil in the forms of robots and monsters. She also rewards, in an uninhibited manner, the handsome men who assist her in the adventure.

Goldman is best known for her many collaborations with director Matthew Vaughn and isn’t new to comic book adaptations, having worked on “X-Men: First Class,” “Kick-Ass,” and “Kingsmen: The Secret Service.” She also helped develop the “Game of Thrones” spinoff pilot “Bloodmoon” with the aim to become the showrunner and was expected to explore the origin of the White Walkers, but wasn’t picked-up by HBO.

This isn’t the only remake that Wright is attached to, as the British filmmaker is also behind Paramount’s “The Running Man,” which has Sweeney’s recent “Anyone But You” co-star Glen Powell (“Twisters”) in the lead role for the dystopian sci-fi action flick based on the Stephen King novel. However, it looks like “The Running Man” is expected to happen first, given Wright is said to be already in the prep stages on the film.

Both Nicolas Winding Refn (“Drive”) and Robert Rodriguez (“Alita: Battle Angel”) previously tried to make their own versions of “Barbarella” that clearly never got further than the development stages, as Sony, I’m sure, is hoping this one sticks and actually goes in front of cameras.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

'The Running Man': Paramount & Edgar Wright Remake Casts Glen Powell In Lead Role
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‘The Running Man’: Paramount & Director Edgar Wright Tap Glen Powell To Star In Sci-Fi Action Remake

Another interesting bit of news coming out of the Paramount Pictures panel today at CinemaCon 2024 is that Edgar Wright‘s remake of the sci-fi actioner “The Running Man” has tapped rising star Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”) to play the lead role of Ben Richards that previously was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s feature adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

The remake from Wright is said to be closer to the original novel that saw Richards being lured into participating in the deadly game show known as The Running Man to get money to help his sickly daughter get medicine/medical care. Elements from the King novel that were sort of pushed aside to make Schwarzenegger’s involvement a little more believable in an action-focused incarnation.

Powell was most recently seen in “Anyone But You” opposite Sydney Sweeney; there have been rumblings online that Wright could end up directing her in Sony’s feature remake of the classic French comic book film “Barbarella,” which starred Jane Fonda in the 1960s.

Wright, of course, is best known for his Cornetto Trilogy (“Shaun of The Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End”) alongside things like “Baby Driver” and the thriller “Last Night In Soho.”

SOURCE: PARAMOUNT PICTURES VIA CINEMACON 2024

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Edgar Wright To Direct New Faithful Version of Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’ For Paramount

Deadline is reporting that Edgar Wright is set to direct a new/faithful version of Stephen King’s The Running Man for Paramount Pictures, taking more cues from the original King story than the 1987 film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film took liberties with the source material to make it conform into a Schwarzenegger action pic.

Wright will co-write the story with Scott Pilgrim collaborator Michael Becall, who will ultimately write the script. The novel published under the faux name Richard Bachman had elements that weren’t used in the film including Ben’s sick daughter and how he signs up for the game show to pay her medical bills.

The Running Man is set within a dystopian future in which the poor are seen more by the government as worrisome rodents than actual human beings. The protagonist of The Running Man, Ben Richards, is quick to realize this as he watches his daughter, Cathy, grow more sick by the day and tread closer and closer to death. Desperate for money to pay Cathy’s medical bills, Ben enlists himself in a true reality style game show where the objective is to merely stay alive.

Given how well Wright handles action I’m sure it will be a substantial modern upgrade.

The original film version became a bit of a cult hit and one of the better Arnold flicks that aged reasonably well given it’s rocky production and a few problematic scenes.

THE RUNNING MAN – In the year 2019, America is a totalitarian state where the favorite television program is “The Running Man” — a game show in which prisoners must run to freedom to avoid a brutal death. Having been made a scapegoat by the government, an imprisoned Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has the opportunity to make it back to the outside again by being a contestant on the deadly show, although the twisted host, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), has no intention of letting him escape.

SOURCE: DEADLINE