During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant promoting his Audible Original podcast The Best Man’s Ghostwriter, out on September 12, Powell hyped up Wright’s upcoming remake of The Running Man. The star says he’s “been doing a lot of sprinting” in preparation and went on to express his admiration for the director and his excitement about working with him. He shared that he has been hoping to work with Wright since he saw the filmmaker’s international breakout feature Shaun of the Dead, which premiered in 2004. Read Powell’s full comments below:
I have been doing a lot of sprinting. That’s all I can say. I’ve been working on my sprint. [Laughs] No, I’ll say that Edgar Wright has been one of my favorite filmmakers for as long as I can remember. I think since Shaun of the Dead, I was like, “I can’t wait to work with this guy.” And he just keeps churning out brilliant things that only his brain could concoct. The Running Man is something he’s so passionate about, and we’re really taking the Stephen King book and just adding a lot of fun Edgar Wright flavor to it, and it has been awesome. That’s going to be a really fun one; I’m super excited about it.
Filmmakers are usually clear about such readaptations, as it feels a but classier than a remake but it also buys them a bit of space to provide their fresh take on the source material. It’s nothing new, The Thing is my favourite example, but it is interesting that Edgar Wright’s next two films are this and Barbarella.
Brian de Palma did a remake of ‘Scarface’ and 'Mission : Impossible" was originally a TV show.
As a grammar buff, I’d say drop the RE and just call them ‘adaptations.’