The Running Man
Dystopia on Overdrive, Story in Freefall
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$22 – 35MM
Mythosis universal quests used
3
Audience appeal
~0.66%
Hidden potential
NA
Edgar Wright’s 2025 reimagining of The Running Man bursts onto the screen with stylised action and a charismatic Glen Powell at its centre. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a structural weakness.
As Roger Ebert’s review observed, Wright’s adaptation “hits the ground running and rarely stops,” but the more distance you get from it, the more its worldview falls apart. Despite its satirical bite and bursts of kinetic energy, The Running Man 2025 ultimately stumbles. It is a fragmented storyline that struggles to elevate its dystopian ambitions.
1. The Running Man's invisible plot structure
1A. 86% of events in The Running Man's script is borrowed from 3 mythological tales
The desire to dominate others drives Killian’s quest of Power. The quest borrows events from the tale of Circe in Greek mythology, where both Killian and Circe create a façade of godliness & treachery to control their victims.
The desire to complete a given task drives Ben’s quest for Expedition. The quest borrows events from the tale of Jason in Greek mythology. Similar to Jason’s quest for The Golden Fleece to get the throne, Ben participates in a game show to provide for his family.
Ben also has a quest of Vengeance in the latter part.
The desire to punish offenders drives McCone’s quest of Vengeance. The quest borrows events from the tale of Duryodhan in Hindu mythology. Duryodhan’s attempts to kill the Pandavas to take over the kingdom is similar to McCone & The Hunters repeatedly trying to kill The Running Man.
Mythosis plot structure
#16,444
Tales interweaved
Jason, Circe & Duryodhan
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. Potential of The Running Man's plot structure: $22 – 35MM
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales can generate a billion unique stories. By using these 32 tales, we can extract the plot structure of any story across various genres. Our study of blockbuster, hit, and flop plot structures led to the discovery of the Mythosis Code. The Code is a set of principles for creating compelling stories. These storytelling principles reveal the strength of a story’s plot structure.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of The Running Man
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. The Running Man uses three universal quests but none of the quests except Expedition is used substantially.
- In Blockbusters, every character mirrors ONLY ONE universal quest. Ben borrows from the quests of Expedition and Vengeance.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Ben borrows 20% events from the universal quest of Expedition. Killian borrows 10% events from the quest of Power. McCone borrows 6% from Vengeance.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. The Running Man’s quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of The Running Man
The Running Man underutilizes the quests, resulting in weak character arcs, fragmented narrative structure and poor quest interweaving. These factors collectively diminish depth, clarity, and dramatic resonance.
The Script Score measures the potency of a plot structure. Higher its adherence to the principles of Mythosis Code, greater is the potency. The Script Score helps estimate a movie’s audience appeal & revenues. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Script Score
0.02
Audience appeal
~0.66%
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
3. Ideal plot structure of The Running Man
We have identified 32 mythological tales. These are the superset of all tales across cultures. The quests of these tales have recurred over time periods. They represent human behaviours embedded in our shared memories. Each tale is the richest expression of the pursuit of a human desire. The tales have a unique pattern of events spread over 5 major arcs.
32 mythological tales strengthen the story and unlock its hidden potential. First, we map a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale. This exercise reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. Second, identify missing events to plug the gaps. Plugging gaps deepens the character quest. Third, use missing events to strengthen the interweaving between various quests.
All blockbusters interweave at least 3 universal quests. Each quest is mirrored by a single character where every character borrows 35%+ events from their respective quest.
A redraft of the script is required since The Running Man employs just one universal quest!
Tags: Circe, Power, Vengeance, Jason, Expedition, Duryodhan, Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall, Kinberg Genre, Paramount Pictures, 2025