Edgar Wright On Shaping The World of His New Adaptation of 'The Running Man'
the renowned auteur discusses the leap to blockbuster filmmaking, and adapting the stephen king novel
In an increasingly homogenous time for cinema, Edgar Wright remains one of the few contemporary auteurs whose name suggests a certain kind of kinetic, singular sort of vision. Wright rose to prominence with creative partner Simon Pegg on the ‘Cornetto Trilogy,’ distinctly British action-comedies that helped to define Wright as a singular filmmaker. Wright also found much success stateside with the likes of comic adaptation Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, and an original crime thriller in Baby Driver. His latest is a new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man, a dystopian thriller in which sadistic game shows are the centre of society. Anchored by rising star Glen Powell, Wright’s new adaptation translates his signature rhythms, humor, and love for genre cinema into his first true foray into the studio blockbuster space. Edgar sat down with FilmSpeak to discuss creating his new adaptation of The Running Man.
Check out the full interview below, or continuing scrolling for the remainder of the article.
When first approaching Glen Powell to play the lead role of Ben Richards, Wright told Powell that he wanted to see ‘Bad Mood Glen’. Wright further divulged what it was like to work with a burgeoning star like Powell to create a new persona on-screen, and what it was like to take on a harder-edged protagonist apropos to his more comedic and aloof protagonists. “I think that is very much a part of the Ben Richards from the book, that he has a lot of righteous kind of fury in him. He’s somebody who’s frustrated because he’s been punished for doing the right thing, and been held back in life, and you know, he lets it boil over. He sticks up for others, and that’s good, but obviously, he loses his temper, and it makes him the prime candidate to be on The Running Man. So, it’s kind of his fatal flaw as well. In working with Glen, I think he found it really liberating, because he’s such a charming kind of actor, to tap into like a darker, angrier side. I think he really enjoyed it.”
Wright has long been a filmmaker who prioritized shooting on celluoid instead of with digital cameras. However, The Running Man marks another first for Wright, with himself and cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung opting to shoot the film in its entirety with digital cameras. Wright explained that “it was definitely a practical decision, because we needed to have so many different types of cameras, and we had so much location work, so we’d be carrying an enormous amounts of [film] kits. I think that because of what’s in the movie, the drones, the shots on the TV, it felt like the way to go. But that doesn’t mean that I’ve renounced 35mm film, I’ll be back, like Schwarzenegger.”
The Running Man is a high-octane blockbuster by all accounts, but also shines when it gets to slow down for a bit and really let the audience into Ben Richards’ pysche a bit more. Wright spoke about his process adapting these kind of scenes to the page, and how he felt they translated on-screen. “I guess in a way, you know, the game is like a strategy. It’s not just running, it’s also hiding. In effect, if you’re doing well on the game, you’ve kinda gotten to a safe place, where you can just hide out for a moment. Obviously, Ben is not necessarily used to having that chance to self-reflect, which he then does, because he has to talk on cameras as well. That was something that was very much in the book that I really wanted to bring to the screen as well.”