Back from travel (and a week knocked flat by the crud), I jumped on last Friday’s KVNU For the People Movie Show to talk THE RUNNING MAN (2025).

The gist: Classic Edgar Wright. Punchy. Fun. Never boring. It’s a massive upgrade on the gold-jumpsuit version; more faithful to Stephen King’s novel and way more interested in how a spectacle-hungry society chews up the powerless.

Premise (spoiler-light): In a near-future underclass America, convicted “runner” Ben Richards is forced into a nationwide manhunt game where he earns money by surviving—and bonus bounties if he turns the tables. The network packages pain as prime-time; the public votes with bloodlust. It’s slick, savage satire that feels uncomfortably current.

Ties to King’s novel: Unlike THE RUNNING MAN (1987), which mostly played as brawny arena combat, Wright leans into the book’s fugitive-on-the-run structure, media manipulation, and the moral rot of a system that turns human misery into ratings. You feel the highways, the hideouts, the surveillance… and the creeping realization that the contestants are just fodder to feed an economy of cruelty.

Cast (mains):

• Glen Powell as Ben Richards — charismatic and coiled; a working-man hero pushed past the brink.

• (Ensemble details intentionally light here to avoid spoilers; the bench is deep, and the showrunners/“stalkers” all get needle-sharp intros.)

Why it lands: The craft is propulsive—razor editing, visual gags that actually serve the story, and a needle-drop palette that hums with momentum. And the commentary hits like a baton: people suffer and die in poverty while dudes like Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg stack wealth and power with zero shame. Wright never sermonizes; he just lets the machine run, and the indictment writes itself.

But is it just bleak? Nope. This thing moves. Chases crackle, fights snap, and the humor breaks tension without defanging the outrage. It’s the rare dystopian actioner that’s wildly entertaining and angry on purpose.

Bottom line (grade: B): A sleek, adrenalized update that respects King, drags our media-tech oligarchy, and gives Glen Powell a star turn. Whether this world gets more sequels will come down to budgets, but as a single shot, THE RUNNING MAN (2025) sprints.

Check out last week’s podcast by clicking here, or peruse through past KNVU For the People Movie Shows by visiting this link. Trailer for THE RUNNING MAN (2025) is below.