Glen Powell's Ambitious But Flawed Stephen King Adaptation Is Finally Streaming On Paramount+

2025 was absolutely packed with Stephen King media, from the best King adaptation (which wasn't even a horror movie) to the surprisingly gruesome and scary HBO series "It: Welcome to Derry." Some of these adaptations triumphed, some fell by the wayside, and others landed somewhere in the middle, as was the case with Edgar Wright's "The Running Man" adaptation. If you missed this ambitious take on King's 1982 novel and fancy seeing whether it was unfairly overlooked in 2025, you can now stream it on Paramount+ at no extra cost to subscribers.

Despite its high ambitions, "The Running Man" stumbled, and star Glen Powell's charms simply weren't enough to save it. Not only was the film a box office flop, it failed to wow critics, even while it wasn't an outright critical disaster. A 63% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes certainly isn't terrible, saving Powell from becoming one of those actors with absolutely terrible Rotten Tomatoes streaks. But that score was also distinctly average, raising the question of why we needed this film when the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-led original remains superior.

That said, it's not as if a lot of people saw this movie in theaters, which means that it might well enjoy something of a reappraisal now that it's available to stream. If you want to contribute to such a thing, Paramount+ has "The Running Man" available right now.

"The Running Man" had a lot working in its favor: a well-known director, a rising star, and recognizable IP. Upon closer examination, however, the film was always a gamble. Glen Powell had leading man success at the box office with his breakout role in the frisky, fun rom-com "Anyone But You," and his star turn in Edgar Wright's sci-fi thriller was his chance to prove that he could bring people to the multiplex. But with a $68.6 million global take, it's safe to say he fell short this time.

Similarly, while Stephen King is about as ubiquitous as it gets, "The Running Man" was very much an '80s IP. As nostalgia for that decade begins to wane in the wake of a renewed interested in '90s and early-2000s culture, relying on fans' fond memories of the original was always going to be risky (much like with the similarly disappointing "Tron: Ares")

Then there was the fact "The Running Man" made a bold change to King's story by switching up the original ending. It also switched up other aspects of the story, which was written in 1973 and released in 1982, to focus more on artificial intelligence. All of which combined to create a disappointing debut for Wright's "The Running Man."

But the film wasn't without its charms (Michael Cera in a supporting role!), and deserves a bigger audience than it got. "The Running Man" already hit digital platforms in December 2025, and came with hours of bonus features and extras. You won't be getting that with the streaming release, but it does mean the film is now available to a wider audience, and it'll be interesting to see whether that changes its reputation.