The Moment
Glen Powell was supposed to be on his victory lap, not licking box office wounds.
After stealing scenes in Top Gun: Maverick, charming his way through the rom-com hit Anyone But You, and riding the storm in Twisters, Hollywood started whispering the same three dangerous words: “next Tom Cruise.”
Enter The Running Man, a big, shiny, $100-million-plus reboot of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film, directed by Edgar Wright and fronted by Powell. On paper, it looked like his coronation as a full-fledged action headliner.
Instead, the movie reportedly opened to about $17 million in the U.S. and roughly $28 million worldwide its first weekend, far below what a film of that scale needs. It was even edged out by a new Now You See Me sequel, which is… not the narrative anyone had written for Powell’s big star vehicle.
Industry insiders are already murmuring that the weak opening is a “major global fail” and a serious dent in the campaign to position Powell, 37, as Cruise’s heir apparent. Others are pointing fingers at everything from audience fatigue to the timing, to the fact that Powell has been all over TV and streaming lately, from SNL hosting duties to his football-comedy series Chad Powers.
There are even unsubstantiated whispers that one late-night appearance may have rubbed a slice of the potential audience the wrong way, though no one can agree on whether that actually changed a single ticket sale. Meanwhile, critics are split on whether Powell fully sells himself as a classic action lead, with at least one review calling the film “hollow” and questioning his viability as a marquee star.
So is this the beginning of the end of the Glen Powell action-hero dream, or just a very public speed bump?
The Take
I’m going to say the thing studios hate to admit: the “next Tom Cruise” crown is less a compliment and more a curse.
That label puts a 40-year career’s worth of expectations on a guy who only just got promoted from “oh, I like that guy” to top-line movie star. It’s like crowning your kid valedictorian after they win the third-grade spelling bee – cute, but you’re setting everyone up for disappointment.
Let’s zoom out. Before The Running Man, Powell’s trajectory looked enviable. According to box office records, Top Gun: Maverick soared to about $1.49 billion worldwide, and romantic comedy Anyone But You quietly became a word-of-mouth smash, clearing over $200 million globally off a modest budget. That’s not a fluke; that’s momentum.
Now he has one big, noisy, effects-heavy action film that didn’t open the way the spreadsheets predicted. Does that sting? Absolutely. Does that mean his action-star hopes are “derailed”? Not even close.
Tom Cruise himself has had box office misfires – remember Rock of Ages? The Mummy reboot? You can’t build a decades-long action career without a few duds on the resume. What separates the lifers from the flash-in-the-pan crowd is what they do after the flop: do they retreat, or double down with better material?
The truth is, Powell didn’t fail a test so much as he got caught in a perfect storm. R-rated, effects-driven sci-fi isn’t the automatic slam dunk it once was. The original Running Man was never a massive hit in its day, even with Schwarzenegger flexing in the lead; it only grew into a cult favorite over time. Expecting the remake to explode simply because the lead is hot on TikTok is wishful thinking.
There’s also the timing question. Insiders are already saying this felt like a summer, Comic-Con-adjacent type of movie, not something tossed into a crowded release slate where it can be undercut by a flashier franchise sequel. It’s hard to build a four-quadrant event when your target audience is split between streaming, sports, and about five other big theatrical releases.
And while I don’t fully buy the idea that Powell doing SNL and headlining a buzzy streaming series “cannibalized” his box office, the wall-to-wall exposure does shift him in people’s minds from mysterious movie star to “guy I just saw for free on my couch.” Stars have to be visible, but they also have to feel a little scarce – especially when you’re selling a $15 ticket.
In other words: Glen Powell is not Tom Cruise. He’s Glen Powell, a modern, more self-aware version of the 80s leading man, operating in a very different box office era. One underperforming sci-fi reboot doesn’t change that; it just reminds the town that coronations are never guaranteed.
Receipts
Confirmed:
- Glen Powell broke out to mainstream audiences as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick, which earned around $1.49 billion worldwide, according to studio box office data from 2022.
- He co-starred in the 2023 rom-com Anyone But You, which went on to gross over $200 million globally off a relatively small budget, per box office reporting from early 2024.
- Powell is attached as the lead of a new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man, directed by Edgar Wright, as announced in trade and studio materials between 2021 and 2023.
- He has recently hosted Saturday Night Live and is fronting a scripted comedy series based on the viral “Chad Powers” character originally introduced in a football sketch, confirmed in 2024 press announcements.
Unverified / Reported:
- Opening weekend box office figures around $17 million domestic and $28 million worldwide for The Running Man are based on current reported estimates for its first weekend in theaters, which may be updated as final numbers are tallied.
- Anonymous insiders claim the film’s weak opening is a “major global fail” and could hurt Hollywood’s efforts to frame Powell as the “next Tom Cruise.” These are opinions, not measurable facts.
- Some sources suggest that Powell’s heavy TV and streaming presence – including recent late-night and sketch-comedy appearances – may have slightly dampened demand to see him in theaters, but there is no hard data proving a direct cause.
- Rumors that one specific late-night booking caused “collateral damage” with parts of the audience remain speculative and unsubstantiated.
Key source timeline (non-exhaustive): studio box office data and promotional materials (2022-2024); trade and press announcements on The Running Man and Chad Powers (2021-2024); current weekend box office estimate reports (November 2025).
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you’ve only half-clocked Glen Powell as “the cute pilot from that new Top Gun,” here’s the quick download. Powell has been working steadily for years in smaller roles, but his swaggering turn as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick flipped a switch: suddenly he was the guy audiences wanted more of. He followed that with a breakout romantic lead role opposite Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You, which shocked the industry by becoming a genuine box office hit at a time when comedies are supposedly “dead.” He then swung back into big-budget territory with disaster flick Twisters, cementing his image as the charming, slightly cocky everyman who can handle both laughs and explosions.
Parallel to that, conversation in Hollywood has been swirling about what happens as Tom Cruise, now in his 60s, eventually slows down with the Mission: Impossible franchise and other stunt-heavy roles. Powell – handsome, charismatic, believable in a cockpit – slid neatly into those headlines. The Running Man, based on the Stephen King story previously adapted for Schwarzenegger in 1987, was positioned as a test of whether he could carry a mega-budget action film on his own name.
What’s Next
The short answer: Glen Powell is not going anywhere.
According to people familiar with his schedule, he already has multiple projects lined up across film and television, and there is no sense that studios are fleeing just because one big swing didn’t clear the fence on opening weekend. In fact, having a high-profile disappointment early can be weirdly useful – it forces everyone, from agents to executives, to be sharper about scripts, timing, and marketing.
For The Running Man itself, the story isn’t over. As insiders have pointed out, the original Schwarzenegger film was only a modest performer in theaters before becoming a cult favorite on home video and cable. In today’s world, the equivalent second chance is streaming. If the movie catches on there – especially with younger viewers who love sci-fi and Edgar Wright’s style – its reputation could soften over time, even if the theatrical math never quite works.
The bigger question is how Powell chooses his next “statement” role. Does he lean into more grounded action, where his charm and vulnerability can shine? Double down on romantic comedies, where he’s already proven he can open a movie? Or chase something more left-field and prestige-driven to remind people he’s not just a quippy jawline in a jumpsuit?
Hollywood loves a comeback arc almost as much as it loves a coronation. If Powell plays his cards right, The Running Man won’t be remembered as the nail in the coffin of his action-star dreams – just the slightly messy middle chapter.
Your turn: Do you think being branded the “next Tom Cruise” helps Glen Powell’s rise, or does it set an impossible bar he never needed to clear?
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