The Running Man star Glen Powell believes that Edgar Wright’s take on the film will make audiences think.
Glen Powell considers The Running Man to be both action-packed and thought-provoking.
The 37-year-old actor plays the role of Ben Richards in Edgar Wright’s take on the story of the same name by Stephen King and feels that the picture is particularly relevant in the modern climate.
Speaking to HeyUGuys.com, Glen said: “When you take on a story that is this epic and also, this timely, there’s a lot to pull from.
“Not only is Ben Richards fighting for his family which I can understand. I’m very close to my family, I’d do anything for them.
“I also think just the commentary of reality TV sort of the TikTok-ification of our world and how we engage with the news and fact and fiction and all of those things, there’s just a lot to play with.
“Very few action movies leave you thinking and I think this one really does.”
The Top Gun: Maverick star embraced the opportunity at getting to work with Edgar on the film and believes that viewers will get to see the Shaun of the Dead director’s “action weapon” in all of its glory.
Powell said: “Edgar Wright’s been one of my favourite directors for as long as I can remember and I don’t think you’ve gotten to see Edgar truly unleash that action weapon fully in a movie.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie yet but it is fully flexed on the screen for audiences.”
Edgar was fascinated with the story – which was previously adapted for the big screen in a movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987 – after reading it as a teenager and put what he had “visualised” in his mind in the movie.
The 51-year-old filmmaker said: “When I read it as a teenager, and this is before I’d seen the other adaptation, I just sort of visualised it in my head and the things that I visualised in my head never really went away and they are exactly the same images that are in the movie.”
The Running Man was shot in a host of locations and Edgar admits that this was one of the most “ambitious” elements of the movie.
The Last Night in Soho director said: “It was definitely ambitious. Probably the most ambitious side of it, apart from the action, would be just the number of locations because we wanted it to feel like Ben Richards was on an epic journey and as such it was like 165 locations.
“If the film is exhilarating that means it was kind of exhausting to make.”
Meanwhile, Glen recently expressed regret that audiences don’t always appreciate the effort that goes into putting stunts on the big screen.
The Anyone but You star explained: “It’s a process to really sell stunts. From an outsider’s perspective, when you’re watching a movie, you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m sure they’re padded up or whatever,’ but you’re delivering and taking a lot of hits over the course of a movie.”
Glen Powell believes The Running Man will leave viewers ‘thinking’
