In Stephen King's The Running Man, everyone, from the sprawling slums to the security-obsessed enclaves of the rich, tunes in every night to the nation's favourite prime-time TV game show.
They all watch the ultimate live death game as the contestants try to beat not the clock, but annihilation at the hands of the Hunters. Survive thirty days and win the billion-dollar jackpot - that's the promise. But the odds are brutal, and the game is rigged. The best score so far is eight days.
However, a new contestant, the latest Running Man, stakes his life while a nation watches. That's Ben Richards, the character who will be played by Glen Powell in Edgar Wright's upcoming reboot of the novel that was previously adapted in 1987 with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role.
An explosive teaser for The Running Man has been released today, confirming that the trailer will race online tomorrow. Powell is put front and centre, revealing our first look at his take on Richards outside of set photos.
The movie is one that's generated a lot of excitement, particularly with Wright at the helm. The original movie was lacking on several fronts, and didn't exactly do King's novel justice. All signs point to this version doing right by the book that the prolific author wrote as "Richard Bachman."
"One of the things about the book that I loved was the fact that Ben Richards is out in the world on his own, so it’s like the deadliest game of hide and seek," Wright previously said of his approach to adapting the novel. "It does feel like making a road movie in a lot of ways: a very intense, dangerous road movie."
"Ben is moving through different environments and meeting different people as he tries to survive 30 days out in the wild," the filmmaker added.
Explaining why he cast Powell, Wright said, "I felt it was important to see somebody who hadn’t really done something like this before. It’s similar to Bruce Willis, when he was still the guy from Moonlighting, before he did Die Hard, where that adds to the suspense. Can they make it?"
Watch the trailer teaser below and make sure to stay tuned tomorrow for the first full trailer. The Running Man opens on November 7, later this year.