BURSTIn the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stephen King published several novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman before being outed in 1984. One of those was The Running Man, later adapted into a star vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger. There's a new adaptation on the horizon courtesy of director Edgar Wright (Sean of the Dead, Ant-Man, Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho), and Paramount just dropped the trailer for The Running Man (2025).
(Spoilers for the 1982 book and 1987 movie below.)
King wrote the original novel in just one week. It's set in a dystopian 2025 hellscape (making Wright's film particularly timely), with the global economy in a state of collapse and a totalitarian government ruling the US. The protagonist, Ben Richards, lives in "Co-Op City" with his wife and seriously ill daughter, unable to work because he was blacklisted. So he decides to compete on a deadly game show called The Running Man. He is declared an enemy of the state and given a 12-hour head start before an elite team of Hunters (i.e., assassins) chase after him. He's also required to post videotaped messages every day.