The release of Anyone But You surprised audiences and fans immediately wanted more of the rom-com pairing of Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney—so much so that rumors began swirling that Sweeney would star opposite Powell in Edgar Wright’s upcoming The Running Man.
Collider has since learned that that is not the case. The outlet reported that while Powell and Sweeney have both said that they’d like to work together again, it will not be on the Edgar Wright adaptation of the Stephen King story. Powell has been cast as the film’s lead, Ben Richards, and has been excitedly talking about it while promoting his new film Twisters.
It is a bit disappointing for those who were excited about the potential of Powell and Sweeney back in action together. I also wanted it to be true from a news standpoint because as much as I loved Powell talking about his excitement for The Running Man, that’s the only bit of information we got on it for a while.
Now that we know for sure that Sweeney is not involved, it is kind of fun to look at who she could have played. Or better, who can play that part now that we know she’s not involved.
Who would Sweeney even have played?
In Stephen King’s novel The Running Man (which was adapted into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in the ’80s), Ben Richards is a young (28-year-old) father who joins the Games Network to play a game called “The Running Man.” The idea is that Ben has to survive being an “enemy of the state” with Hunters coming after him. He does all of this to get medicine for his sick daughter, Cathy, and it is a testament to the kind of man and father that Ben is that he is willing to do this.
Ben does have a wife in the story named Sheila, so maybe that was the hope behind the rumors Sweeney would be involved. In the novel, Sheila becomes a sex worker when Ben cannot find a job and they need money for their daughter so it is going to be an interesting role for whoever takes it on in the Wright adaptation, depending on how faithful his version is to the book.
Published: Aug 5, 2024 05:45 pm