Glen Powell has revealed that famed author Stephen King had to approve of him playing the lead in the movie adaptation of his book The Running Man. In the dystopian action thriller, the Top Gun: Maverick actor plays Ben Richards, who must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins in order to win a big cash prize as part of a televised game called The Running Man. Although director Edgar Wright offered him the role without an audition, Powell had to get the seal of approval from King before his casting was official. "Edgar offered me this movie, and I was like, 'Yes.' I'm like, 'Let's go...' And then, like, later that night, (Edgar says), 'By the way, like, you have to be approved by Stephen King. He's gonna watch Hit Man tonight," Powell recalled at New York Comic Con, reports People. "And so I had to wait overnight for Stephen King to watch Hit Man and hope that I still had the role in the morning. It's terrible." The Twisters star noted that the famed horror writer "loved" his 2023 crime romantic comedy and gave him the green light to play Ben. Shaun of the Dead director Wright also admitted that King needed to approve his and Michael Bacall's screenplay, and it was "nerve-wracking" sending him the adaptation of his 1982 novel. "Stephen King read the screenplay before we started filming, and you know, Stephen King, he's like the most famous English teacher in history... I was like, 'This is so nerve-wracking to have to hand in our homework to (him),'" he shared. "But he loved the screenplay, and so it was great." Wright added that his film pays homage to King's book as well as the 1987 movie adaptation, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Running Man will be released in cinemas on 14 November.