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The Running Man (2025) is a movie directed by Edgar Wright, and presents a contemporary version of King’s novel from 1982, with the addition of fresher political and social aspects.
The film was first premiered at the Ritz London on the 5th of November 2025 and was released in the USA on the 14th of November 2025.
It portrays the story of the character played by Glen Powell, who is thrown into a violent TV show competition where the viewers watch his survival. Along with Glen, Paramount Pictures signed the following actors: Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, and William H. Macy.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers further ahead about the film. Viewer's discretion advised.
In the end, Ben Richards survives the plane crash, reunites with his family, and becomes a living symbol of revolution after exposing Killian’s corrupt regime in The Running Man.
What happens in The Running Man?
The Running Man (Image Via Paramount Pictures)The Running Man centers on Ben Richards, a former police officer accused of crimes he did not commit, who becomes the unwilling participant in a government-run reality show called The Running Man.
People living in this totalitarian world have to watch and enjoy the show in which 'Runners', a category of characters, have to survive the killing of the three hunters they are pursued by.
One of the roles of the show’s producer, portrayed by the Johs Brolin, manipulates the public’s perception in such a way that Richards appears as a dangerous abductor.
Richards becomes the target of massive attention and the embodiment of both the resistance and terror. Together with a woman, Amelia William,s who is played by Emilia Jones, and a band of rebels who disagree with the authoritarian government, Richards is introduced to the real power on his trek.
Amelia first assumes that the murderer is Richard; however, as she sees more and more of the truth about the killing of innocent people and how the news is skewed, she decides to fight with Richard against the system.
What happens to Amelia and Evan McCone in the movie?
The Running Man (Image Via Paramount Pictures)Amelia Williams, the lead actress of The Running Man, is the one who connects the oppressed public to Richards’ rebel side. Detached from the political realities of her society at the beginning, Amelia symbolizes the complacent middle class, the people who hardly question the state propaganda but consume it.
After being taken hostage by Richards, she learns how the fabricated narratives are used to justify the violence in the show. Her change starts when Richards challenges her, using her luxury scarf to show how she had money for medicine for his daughter but chose to wear the scarf instead of buying it.
Amelia becomes instrumental in spreading the truth about the show. She, after the plane wreck, disseminates copies of recordings and documents which reveal the accurate facts regarding the encounter between Richards and Killian.
This leads to a general uprising against Killian’s empire and the dismantling of his control over the media and governance through the riots that get out of hand among the citizens.
Evan McCone, a character played by Lee Pace, is revealed to be one of the film’s most multifaceted villains. Fans first see him as a heartless head of the Hunters, but his background story shows that he was one of the contestants in The Running Man.
After surviving the first season of the game, he took Killian’s offer to become a Hunter and chose power rather than fight back. The character of McCone is an example of the wickedness of power gained in dire times, a person who was once under the yoke but later chose to become the oppressor for his own benefit.
Richards eventually kills McCone (Lee Pace), the masked leader of the Hunters, and other pursuers sent after him.
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What happens to Ben Richards?
After a fight with Killian, Richards finds out that his wife (Jayme Lawson) and daughter are alive, and not dead as he was told. As he rejects Killian’s offer to become part of the system, the producer orders his plane to be shot down. For much of the public, Richards is presumed dead after the explosion.
On the other hand, the black box recordings from the crashed plane and Amelia’s evidence uncover Killian’s deceptions. The public’s ire brings about the fall of Killian’s media empire, and it sets off a large-scale revolt against the government’s control. Throughout the country, Richards Lives graffiti becomes the revolution’s slogan.
The final scenes of the movie show Ben Richards surviving the crash. He manages to escape due to a security system in the cockpit before the plane is destroyed. The last shots show Richards being reunited with his wife and daughter and then leading a raid on Killian’s headquarters.
Although the world is fooled into thinking that he is dead, his survival is what keeps alive the legend of Ben Richards, which has always been a source of uprising.
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For the unversed, The Running Man released in theatres on November 14, 2025.
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Edited by Sakshi Singh
English (US)