The Running Man Could Finally Outrun The Stephen King Movie He Hated

Edgar Wright just dropped his take on Stephen King’s The Running Man, and while the box office start has been soft, it’s creeping toward some very specific targets: Arnold’s original and, weirdly, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Also in the mix: Stephen King approving this new version while still side-eyeing Kubrick’s classic, and the original 1987 screenwriter cheering the reboot from the sidelines. Let’s unpack.

Where the box office sits right now

• The Running Man (2025): $33 million worldwide so far, according to The Numbers
• The Running Man (1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger): $38 million worldwide, per The Numbers
• The Shining (1980): $46 million worldwide, per The Numbers

Yes, the new Running Man is currently behind both the Arnold version and Kubrick’s The Shining. But it’s close enough that, barring a total stall, it could pass both in the coming weeks. That’s notable because the reboot’s word of mouth and early returns have been, let’s say, underwhelming. Still, momentum is momentum.

Why Stephen King still bristles at Kubrick’s The Shining

King’s history with movie adaptations is a rollercoaster, and his harshest notes are reserved for Kubrick’s The Shining. He’s called the film icy and emotionally detached, once comparing the characters to ants in an ant hill on Letterman. In a 2013 BBC interview, he explained that the movie felt like the opposite of what he tries to put on the page.

"I am not a cold guy. I think one of the things people relate to in my books is this warmth, there’s a reaching out and saying to the reader, 'I want you to be a part of this.' With Kubrick’s The Shining I felt that it was very cold..."

He also disliked the changes to his ending and wasn’t into how Jack and Wendy Torrance came across on screen (Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, respectively). On top of that, King says he and Kubrick just didn’t mesh personally; he described the director as brilliant but extremely inward-facing. The frustration ran deep enough that King commissioned and shepherded a 1997 TV miniseries version of The Shining to set the record straight in his own way.

The thaw came later. King has said Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep, the sequel, actually helped him warm up to Kubrick’s film a bit. It’s a very King twist: a sequel making the original play nicer in retrospect.

What King and the original writer think about Wright’s reboot

King has publicly signed off on the new Running Man, even tossing out some very specific praise on X: he called it a 'Die Hard for our time' and a 'bipartisan thrill ride.' That is not faint praise coming from him.

Steven E. de Souza, who wrote the 1987 movie and gets an 'additional literary material' credit on the new one, is also on board. He’s seen Wright’s script and thinks the ending works on the page, even though it doesn’t mirror King’s famously bleak finale from the book.

"I was totally rooting for it because I figured the more people see this movie, [then they] will want to go out and rent the old one, just for comparison’s sakes. So, win-win."

De Souza says both the 1987 film and Wright’s 2025 version tweak King’s ending because the novel’s final chapter is a hard downer. The difference back then? Budget. The Arnold movie had to keep it simpler. He even joked that if there’s a third crack at this in 2045, maybe that one finally nails the landing.

The bottom line

Right now, Wright and Glen Powell’s Running Man is sitting at $33 million worldwide and inching toward the Arnold original’s $38 million and The Shining’s $46 million. The box office trajectory isn’t flashy, but it could still clear both of those marks soon. Meanwhile, King remains the world’s most famous picky parent when it comes to adaptations: unimpressed with Kubrick’s choices, bullish on this new Running Man, and surprisingly soothed by Doctor Sleep.

The Running Man is in theaters now. The 1987 original and The Shining are both available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.