Stories from the set

Tom Cruise called Glen Powell, who was to play the lead role, and gave him some advice about the future film. According to Powell, he expected the call to last about ten minutes, but the conversation went on for 2.5 hours. During the dialogue, Cruise talked about how best to ensure safety while performing stunts and indeed gave Powell some valuable advice.

The writer Stephen King, author of the novel "The Running Man," liked this adaptation and called it "a 'Die Hard' for our time."

Before filming began, actor Glen Powell reached out to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Ben Richards in the 1987 film, and according to Glen, Schwarzenegger gave him his blessing to take on the role.

Director and screenwriter Edgar Wright deliberately rejected the idea of making the film as a remake of the 1987 movie, which had many changes compared to the original novel. According to Edgar, he wanted to capture the mesmerizing road-movie spirit of Stephen King's work.

In the film's universe, the banknotes feature Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Ben Richards in the 1987 film of the same name. Since US banknotes traditionally depict former presidents of the country, this is also a reference to the 1993 film «Demolition Man», which contained a joke about Arnold possibly becoming president. The banknotes can first be seen at the 3rd minute of the film, when Ben is watching the TV show Speed The Wheel.

Edgar Wright (the film's director, screenwriter and producer) agreed to cast Glen Powell only if Stephen King (author of the 1982 novel that served as the film's literary source) approved his candidacy. To convince King that Powell was right for the lead role, Wright advised him to watch Richard Linklater's crime romantic comedy "Hit Man" (2023), starring Powell in the lead role.

The scene where Ben Richards and two other participants in the show are shown the uniform they will be performing in was filmed at the sports center of the Tottenham Hotspur football club in London. In one interview during the promotional tour, Edgar Wright said that for the filming of this scene his assistant deliberately wore a shirt of the Arsenal football club (Tottenham Hotspur's long-time rivals). The center's staff did not like this, and as soon as filming ended, the filmmakers were unceremoniously escorted out of the building.