The Running Man Early Buzz: Did Glen Powell Just Seize Arnold’s Crown?
Early buzz is electric: Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, led by Glen Powell, is being hailed as a smarter, high-octane upgrade over the Schwarzenegger adaptation as it races toward a November 14 release.
Edgar Wright showed critics his take on The Running Man and, surprise, they loved it. Early reactions are calling it smart, thrilling, and notably closer to Stephen King’s book than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Glen Powell steps into Ben Richards’ shoes, and based on the buzz, he fits them just fine.
- What it is: A new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novel about Ben Richards, a desperate man trapped in a televised death game where contestants are literally hunted
- Director: Edgar Wright
- Cast: Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin
- Runtime: 2h 13m
- Release date: November 14, 2025 (in theaters)
- Current IMDb score: 7.2/10
The vibe from the first reactions
The throughline from critics is clear: Wright’s version leans into King’s original vision instead of remixing it into a broad 80s actioner. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff specifically calls this one more faithful to the novel and even pegs it as a strong finisher in a crowded year of King adaptations (The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, and It: Welcome to Derry all got name-checked).
Beyond the book-to-screen talk, the reaction everyone keeps circling back to is Powell. He’s getting the 'movie star' treatment here: multiple critics say he makes Richards feel more human and easy to root for. Andrew Korpan says the film trims the weaker bits of the book and even improves on them, while turning Powell’s Ben into something more nuanced than the page. Kathy Paz calls the movie a heart-pounding, start-to-finish jolt, and Rachel Leishman goes full superlative: action-heavy, emotional, and a legit star vehicle for Powell.
If you’re worried this is just a Xerox of the 1987 flick, JoBlo’s Jimmy O says it isn’t — he paints it as vastly different from Arnold’s version but still a crowd-pleaser. That combo — fresh but accessible — is basically the dream for a remake of something people already love.
A small but telling detail: Arnold already saw it
Glen Powell says he personally screened the finished film for Schwarzenegger. According to Powell, Arnold was thrilled that this take steers back toward King’s original concept and kept raving about it. Not the reaction you always get from the star of a previous adaptation.
'It’s incredible.'
That’s the line Powell says Arnold kept repeating — and Powell’s characterization of the movie as the first time King’s vision has been fully realized on screen is the kind of endorsement that turns heads.
So what are we actually getting?
Going by these early takes: a high-tension chase movie with more character work than you might expect from the premise, a meaner and more book-faithful world than the 1987 version, and Powell locking in that lead-actor aura. Wright is apparently in full control of tone and momentum, and the consensus says it’s both propulsive and surprisingly emotional.
The bottom line
Early buzz says Wright and Powell didn’t just reheat a classic — they built their own version that honors King’s story, stands apart from the 80s cult favorite, and plays to a crowd. If that holds, The Running Man just jumped from curiosity to must-see.
The Running Man hits theaters November 14, 2025.