Ahead of the release of yet another Stephen King novel adaptation of 2025 (the first one being The Long Walk), King praised Glen Powell’s The Running Man remake.
The author took to his X to talk about the new trailer of The Running Man, as well as claiming that he had seen the movie ahead of its release.
https://t.co/wDID7MRClJ
New trailer: RUNNING MAN.
BTW: I've seen it and it's fantastic. DIE HARD for our time.
A bipartisan thrill ride.
Of course, the film does share quite a similarity to the theme and tonality of Bruce Willis’ 1988 film Die Hard.
Why Stephen King Compared The Running Man to Bruce Willis’ Die Hard?
From an almost-dystopian setting to a lone protagonist stacked aga inst insurmountable odds, The Running Man
Both films are shot almost entirely in a singular place, while the protagonist escapes the initial encounter and goes off. With a plot involving terrorists in Die Hard and government agents in The Running Man, it’s up to the protagonist to create essential survival tools and makeshift weapons to fight off against the oppressors.
In fact, the casting of Glen Powell in The Running Man is similar to Bruce Willis’ casting in Die Hard because both actors hadn’t taken on an action role before their respective films.
King praising Glen Powell’s film means a lot, especially because he hated the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger adaptation that was released with the same name.
What Did Stephen King Feel About Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Adaptation?
Following the release of The Running Man, Stephen King famously disliked the movie, wholly because the film was completely different in tone and themes from what King’s novel was about.
King’s protagonist was a poor person who joined a deadly game out of necessity for his daughter’s medical aid. The novel was a dark take on a dystopian world, totalitarian government, and how the rich exploit the poor.
On the other hand, the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie was campy, fun, and full of one-liners like, “Killian, here is Subzero! Now, plain zero!”. The screenplay for the movie was written by Steven E. de Souza (just saying).
But King was right to be angry with the 1987 adaptation because The Running Man dealt with so many more themes and principles that are relevant and a core issue in countries even today. Naturally, his praising of Glen Powell’s adaptation of The Running Man only seems to hint that the movie has managed to finally please Stephen King.
Are you excited about Glen Powell’s upcoming movie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Running Man (2025) will release on November 7, 2025, in theaters (USA).
