First THE RUNNER Trailer Witness the first THE RUNNER trailer! The film, written and directed by Austin Stark, stars Nicolas Cage, Connie Nielsen, Wendell Pierce, Bryan Batt, Sarah Paulson, Fredric Lehne, and Peter Fonda. THE RUNNER will be released in theaters on August 7. In the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill, an idealistic but flawed politician is forced to confront his dysfunctional life after his career is destroyed in a sex scandal.