The Running Man Hits Box Office Milestone That More Than Half Of Stephen King’s Movies Couldn’t

The Running Man has hit an important box office milestone that is relatively rare for Stephen King movies. Edgar Wright’s adaptation of King’s 1982 novel (written as Richard Bachman) stars Glen Powell in the lead role. The Running Man release kicked off on the same weekend as Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, taking No. 2 with a 3-day domestic debut of $16.5 million.

Per The Numbers, The Running Man reached a cumulative global gross of $30.4 million by the end of Tuesday, its fifth day in theaters. This total comprises $19.4 million from the domestic marketplace and an additional $11 million from international markets. By hitting $30 million globally, the movie has passed a milestone that only 21 other Stephen King adaptations have crossed.

Considering the fact that about 50 Stephen King movies have played in theaters over the years, this means that The Running Man is already in rarefied air. However, it still has quite a way to climb if it hopes to recoup its huge reported budget of $110 million.

Because big-budget movies often need to earn back two and a half times their price tags in theaters, the estimated break-even point for The Running Man could be as high as $275 million. While it remains to be seen how high it can climb by the end of its run, it is likely to fall short of that benchmark.

One factor that works in The Running Man‘s favor is that theatrical grosses are not the only way a movie can earn money. It will continue its push toward hitting its break-even point with revenue from its impending releases on streaming, video on demand, television, and physical media.

Regardless of its performance compared to its budget, 2025’s The Running Man is highly likely to climb much higher up the chart of the highest-performing Stephen King movies of all time. In fact, it is highly likely to become the highest-grossing Stephen King movie of 2025. It is the fourth theatrical adaptation of the author’s work this year, after The Monkey, The Life of Chuck, and The Long Walk.

While The Running Man has only outgrossed The Life of Chuck ($11.4 million worldwide) so far, it is closing in on the other two titles. The Monkey ($68.9 million worldwide) only earned a 5-day domestic total of $16.5 million compared to The Running Man‘s $19.4 million, while The Long Walk ($62.2 million worldwide) had an even lower 5-day total of $14.4 million.

If The Running Man maintains its current trajectory ahead of those titles, it could earn as much as $84 million by the end of its run. This would mark it as the eighth highest-grossing Stephen King movie of all time, behind Secret Window, 2019’s Pet Sematary, The Dark Tower, 1408, The Green Mile, It: Chapter 2, and It.

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Release Date

November 7, 2025

Runtime

135 minutes

Director

David Michôd

Writers

Mirrah Foulkes, David Michôd

Producers

Brent Stiefel, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Sydney Sweeney, Teddy Schwarzman, John Friedberg, Michael Heimler, Justin Lothrop, Brad Zimmerman, David Levine