Stephen King’s $69M Sci-Fi Remake That Bombed in Theaters Is Better Than the Original in Every Way

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Stephen King has given us many enduring stories that have become part of our culture, including horror novels like It and The Shining, as well as suspenseful dystopian tales like The Running Man and The Long Walk. While Hollywood often turns these stories into movies and TV shows, the results are all over the map – some adaptations are terrible, while others become huge hits. Recently, in 2025, director Edgar Wright created a critically debated but highly successful film based on one of King’s dystopian novels.

Hollywood consistently finds success with Stephen King adaptations, with notable films appearing in every decade since the 1980s, like The Shining and Stand By Me. His stories remain popular, as evidenced by the 2025 HBO series Welcome to Derry. However, a less well-known King story, adapted for film again in 2025, didn’t perform well at the box office, despite being a significant improvement over the 1987 adaptation.

Glen Powell’s Running Man Is Underrated

In 2025, Glen Powell took on the role of Ben Richards – a character originally made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Stephen King story. Unlike the 1987 film, where Richards was a cop on the run, this version is an ordinary man who lost his job for doing the right thing. Set in a future America run by corporations and heavily policed, Ben is forced to compete in a dangerous game show called ‘The Running Man’ to pay for his daughter’s medical care.

The Running Man game is straightforward: players get a head start and try to escape five hunters. They earn extra money for each hunter they defeat, and anyone can collect a reward for turning them in. To continue earning, players must regularly send letters to the network. When Richards begins playing, he barely avoids the hunters, eventually realizing how to manipulate the game’s ratings system to survive.

Throughout the film, Edgar Wright delves deeper into the original story’s themes, particularly how overly sensational and violent entertainment can negatively impact people, making them less empathetic and more desensitized. This feels especially relevant today, as the boundary between entertainment and news becomes increasingly unclear and media outlets often contribute to societal division. Wright recognized this made it the ideal moment to revisit the story, and thankfully, Stephen King has also given the new adaptation his approval.

The Original Running Man Was Never a Great Movie

The 1980s were a mixed bag for action movies. While films like Die Hard and Predator were instant classics, there were many more that didn’t quite hit the mark, including the first adaptation of The Running Man. Right from the start, the movie signaled it wouldn’t be a serious affair: the main character was unbelievably perfect, the dialogue relied heavily on cheesy one-liners reminiscent of Commando, and the villains looked unintentionally silly due to cheap costumes. It all fell short of the quality seen in the sequel.

The original movie was so bad it was almost enjoyable, a classic B-movie guilty pleasure. However, everything else felt like a missed opportunity. The biggest disappointment was that the promised fight between Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura never happened. The film occasionally hinted at interesting themes, but those moments were ruined by clunky dialogue, like the ridiculous line, “If you guys don’t shut up, I’m gonna uplink your ass, and you’ll be underground.”

While the 1987 film hinted at the themes in King’s book, the remake was much truer to the source material. Unlike the polished and heroic cop portrayed in the earlier version, the new adaptation presented Richards as a more relatable, working-class man driven to desperate measures to support his family – just as he is in the novel. Given the book’s critique of the entertainment industry, it’s clear the remake captured the story’s meaning far more effectively.

Both the 1987 and 1995 Judge Dredd films prioritized flashy action over the deeper themes of the original stories. They lacked subtlety, instead presenting their ideas in a very direct and simplistic way. While the 2025 version wasn’t flawless, it did a much better job of capturing the core message.

Edgar Wright Gave Audiences a Hidden Gem

Hollywood struggled financially in 2025, with many highly anticipated movies failing to perform well in theaters. While the year lacked strong action films, The Running Man was a notable exception – a solid entry in the genre that didn’t receive the praise it deserved. The film strongly echoes themes from other Stephen King adaptations, offering audiences a compelling dystopian setting and memorable villains.

As a huge Stephen King fan, I’m always excited to see his stories come to life on screen, and lately, Hollywood’s been doing a great job with everything from really dramatic takes to straight-up horror and thrillers. I was honestly surprised by how good Glen Powell’s remake turned out – it proves not every remake is a disaster, even if people didn’t rush to see it in theaters. And speaking of great adaptations, Edgar Wright’s take on The Running Man is phenomenal! It took a fun, over-the-top ’80s movie and just made it better in every way, and it’s got me even more hyped for the The Long Walk coming out in 2025.

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2026-01-19 06:40