Glen Powell in “The Running Man.”
Paramount Pictures/Ross Ferguson
Glen Powell’s version of Stephen King’s The Running Man took a huge dive in business in its second weekend at the domestic box office.
Directed by Edgar Wright, The Running Man is the second adaptation of Stephen King’s classic dystopian novel, which was first published under the author’s pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982. The first adaptation of The Running Man, released in 1987, starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the story’s protagonist, Ben Richards, while Family Feud talk show icon Richard Dawson played Richard’s nefarious nemesis Dan Killian.
In the new version, Powell plays Richards, a man struggling to find a way to save his ailing daughter in a dystopian future America. Desperate to earn money for his daughter’s medical treatment, Richards reluctantly joins the sadistic TV game show The Running Man to win 1 billion new dollars, which is the country’s new currency.
The catch is, he must elude elite assassins out in public for 30 days to win the cash. Josh Brolin plays Killian in the new big-screen adaptation of the King tale.
Rated R, Paramount Pictures’ The Running Man opened in theaters on Nov. 14 and finished at No. 2 at the domestic box office with $16.4 million in its first weekend frame from 3,534 theaters. The film opened up against Lionsgate’s heist thriller Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, which took the No. 1 spot in its debut weekend with $21 million in ticket sales from 3,403 North American theaters.
The Running Man fared much worse in its second weekend at the theaters, earning an estimated $5.8 million from Friday to Sunday – marking a 65% drop in business from its opening weekend.
Rated R, The Running Man to date has earned $27 million domestically and $21.3 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $48.3 million to date. The Running Man had a production budget of $110 million before prints and advertising, according to The Numbers.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked: For Good.”
Universal Pictures
‘Wicked: For Good’ Trounced All Competitors At The Box Office In Its Opening Weekend.
Both The Running Man and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t faced a formidable competitor at the box office this weekend with the release of Wicked: For Good, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s follow-up to their 2024 blockbuster movie musical Wicked.
Wicked: For Good easily won the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office, earning an estimated $150 million (including early previews) over the weekend from 4,115 North American venues. Combined with the film’s $76 million in international ticket sales, Wicked: For Good earned an estimated $226 million worldwide in its first weekend.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t dropped to No. 2 at the box office with $9.1 million in ticket sales from 3,403 North American theaters, which is a 57% drop in business from its opening weekend.
With its ticket sales, the second sequel in the Now You See Me franchise boosted its running domestic tally to $36.8 million ($73.8 million worldwide) through Sunday.
The sci-fi action thriller Predator: Badlands earned $6.2 million from 3,100 North American venues in its third weekend in theaters, taking the No. 3 spot. The 20th Century Studios release to date has a running domestic tally of $76.2 million ($159.5 million worldwide).
Finishing No. 5 on the domestic chart behind The Running Man is Searchlight Pictures’ drama Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser. The film earned $3.3 million from 1,925 North American venues and did not open in any theaters internationally.
The final numbers for this weekend’s box office will be released on Monday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/11/23/the-running-man-stumbles-with-65-drop-at-box-office-in-2nd-weekend/
