{"id":12942,"date":"2025-11-19T22:09:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T14:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=12942"},"modified":"2025-11-19T22:09:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T14:09:37","slug":"maybe-the-third-version-in-2045-will-stick-the-landing-writer-of-arnold-schwarzeneggers-the-running-man-responds-to-glen-powells-box-office-flop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=12942","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Maybe the Third Version in 2045 Will Stick the Landing&#8217; \u2014 Writer of Arnold Schwarzenegger&#8217;s The Running Man Responds to Glen Powell&#8217;s Box Office Flop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The writer of Arnold Schwarzenegger\u2019s The Running Man adaptation has offered his take on the new version\u2019s box office struggles.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">According to Deadline, Paramount\u2018s $110 million reboot The Running Man, headlined by Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, and Twisters star Glen Powell, endured an opening weekend that brought in just $28.2 million globally. Directed by Edgar Wright, The Running Man is a modern adaptation of Stephen King\u2019s 1982 novel of the same name that comes nearly 40 years after Schwarzenegger\u2019s iconic 1987 effort.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Steven E. de Souza, writer of the 1987 movie, responded to 2025&#8217;s The Running Man\u2019s box office stumble, saying complaints about its ending rekindle memories of similar complaints about the ending of his version.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\">\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The Running Man Images<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2021719738 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cI read it and [felt that] on paper, they got the ending working,\u201d de Souza insisted, having read the script of the new movie. \u201cEven the reviews that love it say it stumbles at the end. It seems to me that this time around, something went wrong between the page and the stage again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em><strong>Warning!<\/strong><\/em><em> Spoilers for The Running Man follow:<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Both 1987&#8217;s The Running Man and 2025&#8217;s The The Running Man make a similar but significant change to Stephen King\u2019s ending so that it is far less bleak.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">As IGN discusses in our The Running Man ending explained article, in King\u2019s ending, protagonist Ben Richards flies a plane straight into the Network building, which presumably kills everyone inside. 1987&#8217;s The Running Man does away with this in favor of Arnold infiltrating the Network building alongside an army of rebels to kill demented showrunner Killian and secure his revenge.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In the 2025 version, Powell gets a plane scene, but Killian engineers a deepfake video showing Richards threatening to crash into the Network building. The video shows a missile taking out the plane, saving the studio audience from certain death and, it seems, killing Richards. But in reality, Richards survives, and Powell ends up doing his best Arnie impression and infiltrating the Network building for a showdown with Killian.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">In THR interview, de Souza said adaptations of King\u2019s book had to change the ending because it was so depressing.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cThe book\u2019s ending is a downer, so you need a new ending. I would say that both the &#8217;87 version and this version tweak the ending in pretty much the same way, except that in our version, we had less money, so it\u2019s a little simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cMaybe the third version in 2045 will stick the landing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">de Souza also agreed that The Running Man failed to appeal to women ahead of its launch, saying the pre-release marketing skewed male. \u201cThere definitely is some validity to that,\u201d he said. \u201cScience-fiction always skews male.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">While there\u2019s still a chance for The Running Man to recover at the box office, it is now unlikely to make its money back during its theatrical run. The finish line, it seems, has already been crossed. IGN&#8217;s The Running Man review returned a 7\/10. We said: &#8220;The Running Man survives but Edgar Wright and Glen Powell get caught between the bleak sci-fi of Stephen King\u2019s novel and the campy satire of the Arnold Schwarzenegger version.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/maybe-the-third-version-in-2045-will-stick-the-landing-writer-of-arnold-schwarzeneggers-the-running-man-responds-to-glen-powells-box-office-flop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The writer of Arnold Schwarzenegger\u2019s The Running Man adaptation has offered his take on the new version\u2019s box office struggles. According to Deadline, Paramount\u2018s $110&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[10123,3447,3450,4784,6997,140,517,10125,346,2214,10124,10122,2023,534],"class_list":["post-12942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-arnold","tag-box","tag-flop","tag-glen","tag-landing","tag-man","tag-office","tag-powells","tag-responds","tag-running","tag-schwarzeneggers","tag-stick","tag-version","tag-writer","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}