The Running Man is out in theaters this weekend, combining a talented director, Edgar Wright, with a so-hot-right-now star in Glen Powell. The film is an adaptation of Stephen King’s original book, which was already adapted into a 1987 action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. And, unfortunately, it’s a record career low for its director and almost for its star, even if it’s still reviewing decent enough.
As it stands, The Running Man is the lowest Rotten Tomatoes-scored film for Edgar Wright as a director and in the bottom two for Glen Powell as a star with its 64% critic score. Here are the lists so you can see this:
Edgar Wright films:
- The Running Man – 64%
- Last Night in Soho – 75%
- Baby Driver – 92%
- The World’s End – 89%
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – 83%
- Hot Fuzz – 91%
- Shaun of the Dead – 92%
Glen Powell films:
- The Running Man – 64%
- Twisters – 75%
- Anyone But You – 53%
- Hit Man – 95%
- Devotion – 81%
- Top Gun: Maverick – 96%
- Set It Up – 92%
- Hidden Figures – 93%
After this, you get into some very small supporting roles for Powell, so I’ll draw the line somewhere. As you can see, the only one below The Running Man is Anyone But You, though there is some comfort in the enormous blockbuster success of that movie which made $220 million worldwide on a small budget.
So, The Running Man may be average-to-decent, though I think the fact that a 64% is a low for both of these guys says more about the body of their work than anything. Edgar Wright, in particular, has sky-high scores for practically all of his films. Powell shows why he’s a sought-after star both in terms of quality and usually box office. I just finished a piece on how his often-linked Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney has shown that not to be the case, with her new film Christy becoming the ninth-worst wide-released box office opening ever. Two paths diverge, and all that.
The Running Man, however, does surpass the original Running Man with Schwarzenegger, which has a 59% critic score and a not much better 61% audience score. Audience scores are not in for The Running Man yet, which officially comes out tonight/tomorrow. We will have to see the appeal of Powell in particular here, and if he can put up numbers to catch the surprisingly great Predator: Badlands, which dominated the box office last week. It’s just hard to say how this is going to go. I’m still going to see it, as the trailer got me, and at worst, it seems like it’s still going to be pretty good.
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