The dystopian thriller, which is based on King’s 1982 novel of the same name, is now playing in theaters.

Stephen King reveals his thoughts on the big ending change in The Running Man (exclusive)

The dystopian thriller, which is based on King's 1982 novel of the same name, is now playing in theaters.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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November 14, 2025 12:00 p.m. ET

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Glen Powell stars in Paramount Pictures' The Running Man'. Credit:

Ross Ferguson/Paramount Pictures

**This article contains spoilers for *The Running Man*.**

*The Running Man *film is an incredibly faithful adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name — until it isn't.

Both book and film are high-octane dystopian thrillers set in a future, alternate version of America. They both follow Ben Richards (played by Glen Powell in the film), an out-of-work father in desperate need of money for his sick child's treatment, who joins a murderous game show — *The Running Man* — in which contestants are pursued by "hunters" hired to take them out.

The rules of the game, Ben's journey, the people he meets along the way, and the things he learns about the corrupt and morally bankrupt society in which he lives remain mostly unchanged from page to screen. But the film's final act is where things differ.

Glen Powell runs for his life as Ben Richards in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

Ahead of the film's release this weekend, * *reached out to King to get his thoughts on the big change. "I like the ending of Edgar’s version of *The Running Man* very much," he said. "Can’t say too much — spoilers — but I think readers of the novel will be satisfied because they get to have it both ways. If you see what I mean, and I’m betting you do."

Now, with the movie out in theaters, we can break down what the horror maestro was hinting at.

In the book, which King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, Ben carjacks a wealthy woman named Amelia (played by Emilia Jones), taking her hostage and getting the press's attention in the process. Together, they head to an airport, where he bluffs his way past the media, police, and lead hunter Evan McCone (Lee Pace), onto a plane, by pretending he has a powerful bomb hidden in Amelia's bag.**

With McCone and Amelia on board, he continues the ruse, directing the plane to fly low over highly populated cities so it won't be shot down by a defense missile. The head of the game show network, Killian (Josh Brolin), calls Ben and tells him that he knows he's bluffing — the plane has x-ray tech that shows he's not actually carrying an explosive. He then attempts to bargain with Ben, now the show's most successful contestant, by offering him McCone's job.

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When Ben refuses, Killian tells him that his wife and child are dead, murdered 10 days earlier by intruders. Irate and with nothing left to lose, Ben accepts the offer before killing McCone and the flight crew and forcing Amelia to parachute to safety. Mortally wounded after his fight with McCone, Ben uses his remaining strength to program the plane to fly directly into the network building where it all started, killing Killian and himself in the process. The novel ends simply: "The explosion was tremendous, lighting up the night like the wrath of God, and it rained fire twenty blocks away."

However, in the film, the plane never reaches the building. It's shot down before it gets there, and the network announces that Ben died in the crash. But some of his fans aren't so convinced, including one amateur sleuth, who argues that Ben could have used an escape pod feature on the plane.

We then see Ben's wife and daughter alive and well in a grocery store, where a masked man — later revealed to be Ben — has paid for their groceries. The family shares a sweet reunion before Ben, now a full-on vigilante, heads to the *Running Man* set where his journey began. At the head of an angry mob, he walks into the studio and confronts Killian, ultimately shooting him in front of the cameras as the crowd tears apart the set.**

Stephen King and Edgar Wright finally meet.

Edgar Wright/Instagram

Though wildly different than the book, King was on board with the change from the beginning. According to the film's director and co-writer, Edgar Wright, the acclaimed horror writer was sent the script before the film's production began. "Stephen King read the screenplay before we started filming, and so I was kind of most nervous about what he would think, but he loved it," Wright told EW of the script.

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King was similarly pleased with the finished product as a whole. "He watched the film recently, and one thing he said that I really liked, he said, 'It's much more faithful to the book, but different enough to keep it exciting for me,'" Wright says. "I thought that that was the best answer, is that it's more faithful to the book than the previous adaptation [the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger], but it does have changes and twists. So I think like Ben Richards, you want to keep readers of the book on the back foot as well."

Mission accomplished, we'd say.**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Movies”