Summary

  • Glen Powell is thrilled to work on The Running Man with Edgar Wright, calling him a "bucket list" director.
  • Powell revealed that he has been hoping to work with Wright since soon after he moved to L.A.
  • Powell's work on The Running Man comes with a recent expansion in his roster of collaborations with notable directors.

Glen Powell has explained why The Running Man, the star has a string of hits under his belt after having held a ing role opposite Tom Cruise and Miles Teller in the 2022 legacy sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which became the fifth highest-grossing domestic movie of all time. He followed that by starring in the $220 million rom-com sleeper hit Anyone But You in 2023 and the 2024 smash Twisters, which has grossed $337.6 million so far, making it the ninth highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide.

Collider recently spoke with Glen Powell while he was promoting the Audible original The Best Man's Ghostwriter, but the topic quickly turned to The Running Man. The actor expressed his excitement for the project, which he said he expects to begin shooting "a couple of months from now." He explained that Edgar Wright, who will be helming the adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, has been "at the top of my bucket list of directors" since "very early on." Read Powell's full quote below:

Edgar is the greatest. I love that man. He’s been at the top of my bucket list of directors. It’s so funny, I searched Edgar’s name in my email recently, and I found a wish list from very early on when I moved out to L.A., and he was at the top of my wish list of directors I wanted to work with. I think he’s brilliant. He’s a great guy and a great friend. I think we’re gonna make something really special. I don’t have the exact date [for production], but it’s probably a couple of months from now, or something.

Glen Powell Is Expanding His Repertoire Of Notable Directors

Edgar Wright Will Become One Of Powell's Most Prominent Collaborators

Glen Powell as Finn and Forrest Vickery as Coma smiling in Everybody Wants Some

It makes sense that Powell has a bucket list of directors, because his work with Wright reflects a recent expansion of his roster of collaborations with notable filmmakers. Although in the past he has worked with prominent directors, including Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids 3: Game Over), Denzel Washington (The Great Debaters), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), he has spent the most time collaborating with Boyhood and Before Sunrise director Richard Linklater, working together on a variety of projects. Below, see a full breakdown of the roles that Powell has played in Linklater movies:

Title

Character

Fast Food Nation (2006)

Steve

The Hottest State (2006)

John Jaegerman

Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)

Finnegan

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022)

Bostick

Hit Man (2024)

Gary Johnson

Since the 2020s, Powell has been working with notable directors more and more frequently, corresponding with his rise as a major movie star. This includes working with Tron: Legacy's Joseph Kosinski on Top Gun: Maverick, Minari's Lee Isaac Chung on Twisters, and The Blind Side's John Lee Hancock on the Monsanto. His collaborations with Linklater have also not slowed down, as he co-wrote Hit Man with the director in addition to starring in the movie.

However, The Running Man director Edgar Wright is one of his most notable director collaborators yet. The filmmaker is best known for helming the Cornetto trilogy, which is composed of the movies Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, but every movie he has directed since 2004, including Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Baby Driver, has been Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The new Stephen King movie could very well follow suit and become a huge stepping stone for Powell as his star continues to rise.

Source: Collider

Your Rating

Rate Now
The Running Man
R
Sci-Fi
Thriller
Action
8/10
7.0/10
Release Date
November 13, 1987
Runtime
101 minutes
Director
Paul Michael Glaser

Cast

See All
  • Headshot of Maria Conchita Alonso
    Maria Conchita Alonso
    Ben Richards
  • Headshot of Yaphet Kotto
    Yaphet Kotto
    Uncredited

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming
RENT
BUY

Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, The Running Man is a sci-fi action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Captain Ben Richards, a former cop who's forced to compete in a deadly game show where criminals fight for their lives. The 1987 movie is based on a Stephen King novel under his pen name Richard Bachman.

Writers
Steven E. de Souza
Budget
$27 million