Glen Powell is set to star in a new adaptation of Paramount's The Running Man by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Edgar Wright will direct the movie and has been attached to it since 2021. He's also producing with partner Nira Park as well as Simon Kinberg. Wright is co-writing the script with Michael Bacall.

The Running Man (not the dance) in the 21st Century

The Running Man was published in 1982. The story is set in American in 2025 under a totalitarian regime which uses violent game shows in order to entertain the masses. A desperate man who needs money for sick daughter's treatment joins the most popular of the game shows called The Running Man. The game sets a team of killers to hunt the contestants.

The longer they survive, the bigger their cash prize is. However, the man is pitted against the game's producers and the killers, and he'll break the game's rules and expose its secrets.

The original movie in 1987 starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and was directed by Paul Michael Glaser of Starsky and Hutch. The first film was made with a $27 million budget, and grossed $38.1 million globally. I have higher hopes for this one since the audience would most likely be more familiar with reality shows.

Powell was most recently seen in last year's hit romantic-comedy film Anyone But You, opposite Sydney Sweeney, which grossed $218.75 million. He'll next be seen in Hit Man, which he co-wrote and co-produced with director Richard Linklater.

The movie will be released on May 24 and will start streaming on Netflix on June 7. Powell is also produced a documentary on The Blue Angels which will premiere on Prime Video on May 23.

Next up for Powell is Twisters, a reboot of the 1996 tornado film, with Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and David Corenswet (the future Superman). The actor currently has three projects in production: Huntington, Most Dangerous Game and a TV series Chad Powers, on which he will also serve as a writer.

He got his first major break by starring in the blockbuster hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick with Tom Cruise and Miles Teller. Powell played Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin. Top Gun 3's script is currently in development.