Three years after it was first announced, Edgar’s Wright’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novel “The Running Man” has finally started shooting. So far, Wright has not indicated when version of the film is set, although it is reported to stick more to King’s original novel than the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. And while the novel and original adaptation takes place in a dystopian United States in the 21st Century, The Daily Mail believes Wright’s film is set in the 1980s.
As evidence, The Daily Mail points to the costume of Glenn Powell, who was spotted on set at London’s iconic Battersea Power Station, as he takes on the lead role. The publication writes that Powell was dressed in an “eighties-esque ensemble of hoodie layered under a denim shirt and brown jacket for his role as Ben Richards.”
While this outfit doesn’t appear particular to our favorite decade, The Daily Mail also highlights this pair of “retro eighties cars…parked up alongside the building.” Whether there were more than two, we don’t know. But photos of these two were provided.
This is a 1987 Lotus Esprit Turbo. An earlier model was driven by James Bond in 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only.”
And this is a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. It is the same model that was modified to create KITT for the TV series “Knight Rider.”
In spite of what The Daily Mail believes are clues to the film’s setting, we believe there may be a different reason for the vintage vehicles. Instead, if these vehicles appear in the film at all, they may be a nod to sources of the adaptation. The King novel was published in 1982 (the same year as the Trans Am) and the first adaptation of the novel was released in 1987 (the same year as the Lotus).
Powell spoke about the project during a summer interview with IndieWire, gushing: ‘I’m going to be shooting The Running Man in the fall. “We’ve been going back and forth on script stuff, and it’s so fun…We’re just both such big fans of the Stephen King book [the movie is based on], and it’s going to be a great character. I’m so fired up about it.”
The reboot hits theaters in November 2025.
