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Waiting for Stephen King to weigh in on the Running Man movie script was like waiting for a teacher to grade your homework, but Edgar Wright says they passed with flying colors
The Running Man director Edgar Wright says the hardest part of making the film was waiting for Stephen King’s script notes (but it’s okay because King loved it)
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It’s been over 30 years since Edgar Wright graduated from high school, but directing The Running Man made him feel like he was back in his old classroom. Only this time, his teacher was renowned author (and The Running Man writer) Stephen King.
“The most nerve-wracking of the production is that Stephen King read the screenplay before we started filming,” Wright says during a panel at New York Comic Con. “Stephen King, he’s like the most famous English teacher in history, because he was an English teacher. Michael Bacall, who I wrote the film with, was like, ‘This is so nerve-wracking to have to hand in our homework to Stephen King.”
Luckily, their teacher gave them high marks.
“[Stephen] loved the screenplay, and so it was great. It was a real kismet,” Wright says. “He loved the adaptation, and that was kind of a blessing and a curse, because he raved so much about the script, and then I was like, ‘Oh shit, now we’ve got to make it.’"
"It was great," Wright continues. "I don’t want to speak for him, because he’s seen the movie and he really loved it. And he said something in the email, he said, ‘It’s more faithful to the book to keep the fans happy, but different enough to keep me on my toes and excited.’ And I was like, okay, I’ll take that.”
The Running Man hits most theaters on November 14.
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