From the game-changing Cornetto Trilogy (<em>Shaun of the Dead</em>, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End) to the pulse-racing heist thriller Baby Driver, director Edgar Wright is one of the best working today. Able to tackle any task from the small, pop culture-loving sitcom to the big-budget Hollywood blockbuster, Wright’s signature style makes him a sure-fire way to elevate any potential project. Case in point: 2025’s The Running Man.

Based on the novel by Stephen King, the upcoming dystopian action thriller is the second big-screen adaptation following the 1987 effort starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, with King himself giving his seal of approval for Wright’s interpretation, with the director revealing “he loved the movie.” Leading The Running Man, and stepping into the huge shoes of Schwarzenegger, is Glen Powell, one of Hollywood’s most exciting leading men, who promised Wright he would “work harder than any other actor” he’s ever worked with prior to casting.

Ahead of the movie’s release, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sat with Wright to chat about all things Running Man, with the director discussing just how complicated a film like this is, what it’s like working with Powell, the seal of approval given by King, and much more. You can check out the full interview in the video above or in the transcript below.

Edgar Wright on His Biggest Movie Yet: “Whose Idea Was It to Make This So Complicated?”

“It was my idea!”

PERRI NEMIROFF: My first two questions for you are inspired by something [producer] Nira [Park] mentioned in our press notes. The first thing is, she said that this is the biggest movie the two of you have ever made together. So, can you tell me something about the size of this movie that essentially let the two of you tick something on the bucket list, like use a tool, make a scene as big as you wanted for the very first time, but then can you also give me an example of a big-budget filmmaking learning curve that you experienced while doing this?

EDGAR WRIGHT: The crazy thing about it is that it’s the biggest movie we’ve ever made, but also on the shortest timeline. [Laughs] We hadn’t really even started filming this time last year. So, the fact that it’s finished and done, that is the result of a lot of six and seven-day weeks, and 16-hour days. Everybody worked really, really hard to get it ready in time. But I don’t know. Really, the thing is that the ambition of a movie is kind of set by yourself in a way. So, sometimes you can stand on set thinking, “Whose idea was this to make this this complicated? It was my idea! Why do I make it so complicated for myself all the time?” So I think sometimes that comes up.

The moments where you felt like it was really something that was exciting to be in the room… A lot of movie making is a long and sort of complicated process, and it’s a lot of little moving parts. But shooting the stuff on the game show with all the extras, the dancers, and fire, and Colman [Domingo] whipping up the crowd and the contestants all on stage, and people chanting and hurling abuse at Glen [Powell], then you really felt sometimes like you’re in it. You know, like, “I’m in the show right now.”

That must be the best feeling in the world as a filmmaker. Also, what you brought up about the timeline made me think of this. Is this the very first time you have made a movie with a set release date that you had to hit?

WRIGHT: Yeah. I think it is, actually.

What was that experience like? In addition to having very long days, how did you manage that kind of pressure?

WRIGHT: We always knew that going into it. Mike Ireland, from Paramount, had said in early ‘24, and it was a very rare thing for a studio person to say, he was literally tapping his watch, and he goes, “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be making this film this year. We want it out in November ‘25.” So, we all knew that was the thing. And listen, it’s not like it wasn’t arduous to get it all done, but on the flip side, because the book is set in 2025, if somebody had said, “Hey, you guys need more time. We’re going to bump it into 2026,” I’d be equally bummed. So, I’m really happy that I’m sitting here today. I only watched the film with the finished sound and picture together, like, just over a week ago, so the fact that I’m looking at the poster and talking to you is kind of wild to me.

As someone who loves the book, the fact that your movie is coming out this year tickles me to no end.

WRIGHT: We just snuck it in in the last six weeks.

Because you just mentioned having just finished the film, what was the finishing touch, the last thing you did on the movie that made you stop and go, “It is done and ready to go now?”

WRIGHT: If you’ve seen the movie, those apostle sequences were some of the most dense bits to do. There’s a lot of moving parts, so I think maybe one of the apostle sequences. There are things that took months and months to finish, and so I think that was probably one of the final things to get finished.

Glen Powell Isn’t a Superhero – That’s Why This Works

“He’s not John Wick.”

I have a bunch of collaborator questions for you. I’ll obviously start with Glen, who is just something else. I love him off-screen as a person, and I love the fact that he is soaring in this industry as a lead actor and also a leader in general. With him, can you tell me something you were able to accomplish making your Running Man movie that you know is only because Glen Powell was your Ben Richards?

WRIGHT: There are a couple of things. Something about him playing the part was because Glen, even though he’s been in action movies before, he hasn’t played a superhero. I think if somebody has done a part where they’ve been like sort of a master martial artist or trained killer — I mean he plays a fake hitman in Hit Man — so with this it was just relatability of him feeling like an everyman. This is a guy that comes in off street and he’s tough because he’s worked in construction and he’s worked some dangerous jobs but he’s not superhero and he’s not John Wick. He’s guy who’s in middle of this deadly competition and I think Glen has charisma and relatability to pull that off.

But also just on production level sometimes when actors are mix for something you don’t necessarily speak them. You might speak their reps but because me Glen knew each other little bit when he heard he was potentially mix for film he sent me text said “Hey I don’t know whether true or not but heard my name being mentioned forThe Running Man. He goes “If I had chance make this with you I promise will work harder than any other actor you’ve ever worked with” and he was true his word.