Edgar Wright’s The Running Man is shaping up to be one of the finest Stephen King adaptations yet, at least when it comes to its cast. Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Katy O’Brian, and Lee Pace have all signed on to appear in the production, and now we have word that two more heavyweights are joining in on the fun, including Michael Cera, who will reunite with his Scott Pilgrim vs. the World director in a live-action project for the first time in 14 years.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Cera is joined by Emilia Jones (Locke & Key) in The Running Man, which will start shooting in London early next year, with an expected release date of November 21, 2025. Based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, the film is said to be a more faithful adaptation than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie was, and stars Powell as Ben Richards, a distressed man who participates in a popular dystopian game show where a team of killers hunts down contestants for fun. The longer a person survives, the more money they make.
As mentioned, this will be the first live-action teaming of Cera and Wright in 14 years after the duo joined forces for the 2010 production that was based on the Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Though it failed at the box office and only managed to take in $51 million against a budget reported to be as high as $85 million, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has since gone on to become a beloved cult classic. Cera did reprise the lead role last year in the Wright-produced anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, but seeing how he only served as an executive producer, both he and Cera had no direct contact with one another.
Who Is Everyone Playing in The Running Man?
Cera will star in The Running Man as “a naïve rebel who tries to help the desperate man,” while Jones will take on the role of “a privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government.” Her part was portrayed by Maria Conchita Alonso in the 1987 film, who starred alongside Schwarzenegger as Amber Mendez. Cera’s role was previously embodied by the talents of Marvin J. McIntyre, who played Harold Weiss.
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Elsewhere, Brolin will star as Dan Killian, the executive producer of the game show, while O’Brian will play another contestant next to Powell. Pace is on board to play the leader of the Hunters – an elite team of Network-employed hitmen that are tasked with hunting down contestants and killing them before the 30-day time limit is up, thus preventing them from claiming the $1 billion dollar prize.
With principal photography still three months away, there’s plenty of time for more roles to be filled, including the remainder of the Hunters, as well as some other contestants to serve as fodder for the killers before they can get to Powell. We’ll have more news on The Running Man as it breaks, including additional casting news and behind-the-scenes photos as they become available.