Edgar Wrightthe director of the upcoming The Running Man remakerecently opened up on Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s thoughts on the film. Schwarzenegger starred in the original 1987 movie. Both films are adaptations of the book of the same name by Stephen King, who wrote it under the pen name Richard Bachman.

Edgar Wright talks speaking to Arnold Schwarzenegger for The Running Man remake

Edgar Wright and Glen Powell spoke to Entertainment Weekly about The Running Man, with the former recalling how they approached Arnold Schwarzenegger about the remake. The Austria-born actor played Captain Benjamin Stuart “Ben” Richards in the 1987 feature. Powell portrays Ben in the upcoming movie.

Wright and Powell spoke to Schwarzenegger through a Zoom call. The Last Night in Soho director said the interaction was “amazing.” He explained, “We wanted to give a nod to the great man in the film — I’m not going to say what that was — and we sort of needed his approval for it.” Wright noted that Powell had previously worked with the iconic action star on 2014’s The Expendables 3 and knew his oldest son, Patrick.

According to Wright, that conversation was “incredible.” He elaborated, “Obviously, sometimes, when people do newer adaptations of films, it’s a bit of a touchy situation.” The filmmaker recalled Schwarzenegger telling them that “out of all of my films that I’ve made, I’ve always felt that’s one that would be a worthy remake, and I think you guys are all set up to do that.

Wright added, “He basically gave us his blessing, and it was an incredibly sweet thing to do.”

The cast of The Running Man also includes Josh Brolin as Dan Killian, Lee Pace as Evan McCone, and Colman Domingo as Bobby Thompson. The movie debuts in US theaters on November 7, 2025.

Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on SuperHeroHype.