Glen Powell has offered his view on why The Running Man struggled at the box office despite his recent run of successful movies. The actor pointed to major changes at Paramount Pictures shortly before the film reached theaters.
Speaking to Esquire, Powell said Paramount “let go of an entire marketing department a month before our movie came out in the middle of a merger.”
Powell believes the timing disrupted the film’s promotional campaign and made it harder to build awareness before release. He added, “There were a lot of issues with that. There just was not enough time to do it properly. I look back on that one as an example of going, You know what, there’s no rush.”
Directed by Edgar Wright, The Running Man was based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel, published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. Powell played Ben Richards, a man forced to participate in a deadly televised competition.
Powell also suffered a serious injury while filming the movie. While he was filming in Bulgaria, he ruptured a tendon in his hand during a knife stunt, which later required emergency surgery.
The movie finished its theatrical run with less than $69 million worldwide on a reported production budget of around $110 million.
What happened behind the scenes at Paramount before the film’s release?
The issues Powell described occurred during Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance Media. It brought changes across the studio, including its marketing operations. According to industry reports, Paramount marketing head Marc Weinstock left around the film’s release. New leadership took over as layoffs affected Paramount’s marketing and other operations.
The changes created uncertainty around the movie’s marketing campaign. Powell’s comments suggest the film’s promotional efforts were affected as Paramount dealt with broader corporate changes. That left The Running Man facing a difficult release period for a major action movie that needed a strong campaign to reach audiences.
The film also took a different approach from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 adaptation. Wright’s version hewed more closely to King’s darker novel while retaining satirical elements.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.net.
