Bringing Stephen King’s dystopian vision back to the big screen is no small feat, and Glen Powell knows it. In the new reimagining of The Running Man, Powell steps into the shoes of Ben Richards, a desperate father who volunteers to join the world’s most dangerous game show in order to save his daughter. The premise is as chilling as it is exhilarating: in a near-future society, the most-watched program on television pits ordinary people, known as Runners, against elite assassins who hunt them down for sport and spectacle. If a Runner survives thirty days, they walk away with riches beyond imagination. Most don’t make it past the first week.
Powell admits that this is the most grueling role of his career so far, not just emotionally but physically. “The action in this movie is non-stop,” he says. “I knew going into it that I was going to get my ass kicked, and I absolutely did.” To transform into Richards — a working-class man thrust into a world of televised violence — Powell endured a training regimen designed to simulate both the intensity and unpredictability of the hunt.
The physical preparation wasn’t just about sculpting Powell’s body into that of a survivor. It was about stamina. Fight coordinators and stunt trainers built a program that mirrored the chaos of being constantly pursued. Interval sprints, close-quarters combat, parkour-inspired movement, and full-contact sparring became the daily norm. Powell often trained six hours a day, alternating between strength conditioning and high-adrenaline fight choreography. His trainers deliberately threw in surprise elements — blindfolds, multiple attackers, obstacles in the gym — to force him to adapt on instinct.
Josh Brolin’s portrayal of Dan Killian, the show’s ruthless producer, amplifies the stakes. For every blow Powell takes on-screen, there’s a reminder of the system profiting from his suffering, manipulating public opinion, and keeping the nation hooked. Glen Powell has said that some of the hardest training wasn’t physical at all but emotional — learning how to channel exhaustion, rage, and vulnerability into moments that feel authentic in a world of high-concept action.
Adding further gravitas to the cast is Colman Domingo, who is rumored to be a key figure pulling strings behind the curtain. Known for his commanding screen presence, Domingo brings a layer of menace and moral complexity to the story, ensuring that the world of The Running Man isn’t just dangerous in the arena but also deeply corrupt at its core. His dynamic with both Powell’s Richards and Brolin’s Killian is set to raise the tension even higher, making every choice Richards makes feel like life or death.
In many ways, Powell’s training mirrors the central tension of the film: the balance between vulnerability and resilience. Director Edgar Wright, who brings his signature kinetic style to the project, wanted every punch, chase, and fall to feel raw and dangerous, more grounded than glossy. The production’s stunt team designed sequences where Powell would take real hits, crash into walls, and run until exhaustion—not unlike the character’s on-screen ordeal. By the end of filming, Powell walked away with bruises, sprains, and more than a few scars, but also a newfound appreciation for the physical demands of this dystopian gladiator sport.
Behind the action, however, lies a deeper story about spectacle and survival. Powell understood that Ben Richards couldn’t just be muscles and grit. He had to be a man audiences root for, someone who reflects the desperation of everyday people caught in an unjust system. To get there, Powell spent time working with survival experts and blue-collar workers, listening to stories of struggle, sacrifice, and resilience. That emotional foundation gave weight to the relentless physical training, ensuring that when Richards staggers to his feet after another punishing fight, audiences see both his pain and his purpose.
By the time The Running Man hits theaters, audiences won’t just be watching a spectacle of futuristic gladiatorial combat. They’ll be seeing the culmination of months of punishing training, both physical and emotional, that Powell undertook to inhabit a man whose fight is as much against the system as it is against the Hunters chasing him. If Powell’s bruises and battle-worn body are any indication, viewers are in for a ride that will leave them as breathless as he was making it.
