REALITY TV DYSTOPIA - The Running Man Review

The Running Man (2025 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Running Man is a 2025 dystopian action thriller film produced and directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Michael Bacall. It is the second adaptation of the 1982 novel by Stephen King, following the 1987 film. The cast includes Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Sean Hayes, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin.

The Running Man premiered at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, on 5 November 2025. It was released in the UK on 12 November, and was released in the US on 14 November, by Paramount Pictures. The film received mixed reviews, though many critics considered it to be an improvement over the origina

Cast
Glen Powell as Ben Richards[7]
Josh Brolin as Dan Killian, the show's producer[8]
Colman Domingo as Bobby "Bobby T" Thompson, the host of The Running Man show[9]
Lee Pace as Evan McCone, the masked leader of the hunters[10]
Michael Cera as Elton Parrakis, a rebel who helps Ben[11]
Emilia Jones as Amelia Williams, a civilian taken hostage by Ben[11]
William H. Macy as Molie Jernigan, a man who assists Ben when he is on the run[12]
Daniel Ezra as Bradley Throckmorton, a rebel who aids Ben[13]
Jayme Lawson as Sheila Richards, Ben's wife[14]
Alyssa and Sienna Benn as Cathy Richards, Ben's infant daughter
Katy O'Brian as Jenni Laughlin, a contestant[15]
Karl Glusman as Frank, a hunter[16]
Martin Herlihy as Tim Jansky, a contestant
Sean Hayes as Gary Greenbacks[17], a TV host
David Zayas as Richard Manuel[18]
Sandra Dickinson as Victoria Parrakis, Elton's mother
George Carroll as Agent Dugg
Simon Haines as Registration Technico[19]
Debi Mazar as Amoré Americano
Sophie Simnett as Ticket Agent
Corey Johnson as Motel Owner
Chi Lewis-Parry as Negative Dude
Angelo Gray as Stacey Throckmorton
Oluniké Adeliyi as Ma Throckmorton
Danny McCarthy as YVA Manager
Cat Cohen as Ariané Americano
Noah Ritter as Antoné Americano
Emma Sidi as Adriané Americano
Alex Neustaedter as Greg
Bebe Cave as Shake Shack Cashier
James Austin Johnson as Voice of Announcer
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Ben Richards in the 1987 film, makes a photographic cameo as the face of the $100 bill.

Reception
Box office
As of November 17, 2025, The Running Man has grossed $17.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $11.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $28.7 million.[5][6] In the United States and Canada, it was released alongside Now You See Me: Now You Don't and Keeper, and was projected to gross $23–25 million in its opening weekend.[45] It made $1.9 million in Thursday box office previews, and went on to debut to $16.5 million in its opening weekend,[6] finishing in second at the box office behind Now You See Me: Now You Don't.[46][47]

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of 246 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Spiritedly sprinting through grim source material, Edgar Wright's The Running Man doesn't live up to the director's high bar for inventive action extravaganzas but maintains a slick stride."[48] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[49] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same as the original film.[50]

Chris Klimek called The Running Man a "bloody hoot" in a 3.5-out-of-4 review for The Washington Post, with praise for the direction and performances.[51] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave it two and a half out of four, writing: "The relentless pace generates enough of an endorphin rush to power the movie beyond plausibility nitpicking. It also prevents the audience from probing its worldview too closely, up to a point. That's probably for the best."[52] Owen Gleiberman of Variety viewed the remake as an improvement on the 1987 Schwarzenegger movie, but he did not find the dystopian themes unique or compelling. Gleiberman wrote that "because we’ve seen so many garishly downbeat sci-fi movies, dystopia is now the air that our imaginations breathe."[53] Stephen King, who disliked the original film, praised the 2025 adaptation, calling it a "bipartisan thrill ride"