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Paramount+’s 133-Minute Sci-Fi Epic Floats Up the Streaming Charts

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2025 was a year full of Stephen King adaptations, yet some hit home harder than others. The most successful of the bunch was undoubtedly The Long Walk, the critically acclaimed dystopian horror thriller starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. The film is based on King’s novel of the same name, and it was directed by long-time Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence. It cost only $20 million to make, and it returned threefold on this investment, grossing over $62 million at the box office. Another long-awaited Stephen King adaptation finally hit the big screen last year: The Life of Chuck, the sci-fi epic starring Tom Hiddleston. Despite strong reviews, The Life of Chuck struggled at the box office, failing to cross $20 million, but it has since redeemed itself on streaming.

The final Stephen King adaptation to release last year was arguably the most anticipated coming into the year: Glen Powell’s remake of The Running Man. The film features a star-studded ensemble cast around Powell, including Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, and more, which is part of what led to its massive $110 million budget. This left the film with a break-even point of more than $200 million, but despite this, it whimpered out of theaters after earning only $69 million at the box office. Following a disappointing theatrical run, The Running Man escaped to Paramount+ earlier this year on January 13, and although it’s been almost three months since its debut on the platform, it’s still the #1 most popular movie by a mile. It briefly lost the spot to Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the final MI movie starring Tom Cruise.











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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz
Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?
The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
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Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.

💊The Matrix

🔥Mad Max

🌧️Blade Runner

🏜️Dune

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🚀Star Wars

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01

You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?
The first instinct is often the truest one.





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02

In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?
What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.





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03

What kind of threat keeps you up at night?
Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.





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04

How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?
Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.





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05

Which environment could you actually endure long-term?
Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.





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06

Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?
The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.





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07

Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all?
Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.





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08

What would actually make survival worth it?
Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.





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Your Fate Has Been Calculated
You’d Survive In…

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

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The Resistance, Zion

The Matrix

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.

  • You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
  • You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
  • You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
  • The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.

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The Wasteland

Mad Max

The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.

  • You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
  • You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
  • You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
  • In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.

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Los Angeles, 2049

Blade Runner

You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

  • You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
  • In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
  • You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
  • In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.

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Arrakis

Dune

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

  • Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
  • You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
  • Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
  • In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.

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A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

  • You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
  • You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
  • You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
  • In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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What Is ‘The Running Man’ About?

The official synopsis for The Running Man reads as follows:

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“Ben Richards (Glen Powell) must outwit the Network in this fun, unhinged, deadly game show where his unexpected fandom threatens to dismantle the entire system.”

Edgar Wright, famed for his work on movies such as Shaun of the Dead, Last Night in Soho, and Baby Driver, directed The Running Man remake with a script he wrote with Michael Bacall. The film earned scores of 61% from critics and 77% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. David Zayas, Greg Townley, Karl Glusman, Joey Ansah, and James Frecheville also star in The Running Man.

Check out The Running Man on Paramount+ and stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates and coverage of Stephen King’s future projects.


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Release Date

November 11, 2025

Runtime

133 minutes

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Director

Edgar Wright

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Writers

Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright

Producers
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Nira Park, Simon Kinberg, Edgar Wright

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