Stephen King closes this week (in Spain) a 2025 full of adaptations of his novels. The running man It will be the last to hit Spanish cinemas, but it will be the second time that the novel has been adapted the Wantedwhich the Maine writer published in 1982 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.
In 1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger took over Paulo Michael Glaser in Persecutedan adaptation born of its time with a script by Steven E. de Souza (Command) which visibly changed the ending of the novel.
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They did the same Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall with The running manthe new adaptation of the novel with Glen Powell embodying Ben Richards in this world where death on television is the most normal thing to entertain the masses.
But the changes did not convince critics, as happened in 1987 with Perseguido. The specialized press gives you a 65% approvalbut find the end of The running man “rushed” and “anticlimactic” among other adjectives.
The running man fails to capture the essence of Stephen King’s novel
Now that the specialized press has spoken, Steven E. de Souza speaks out in The Hollywood Reporter about the reception of this version of The running manas well as the need to change the ending of the cinema:
“I read the script and thought that, in theory, the ending worked. But even the positive reviews point out that in the end it falters. It seems to me that, this time, something went wrong again between the script and the screen.
The ending of the book is depressing, so a new ending is needed. I would say that both the 87 version and this one modify the ending in a very similar way, but in our version we had less budget, so it’s a little simpler. Maybe the third version, in 2045, will hit the nail on the head.”
The public received better The running man this criticism, with 79% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, but the film got off to a bad start at the box office and may not recover. You can decide whether the ending of this version is worth it or not from the November 21st.
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