For decades, Stephen King’s name has been synonymous with horror, suspense, and the uncanny. But for a brief stretch in the late 1970s and 1980s, another author—Richard Bachman—emerged on the literary scene, penning novels that were bleaker, more cynical, and sometimes even darker than King’s best-known works. The twist? Bachman was King all along, using a pseudonym to explore different themes and perhaps test whether his success was due to talent or luck. The Bachman persona was eventually unmasked in the mid-1980s, but the stories lived on, and, as of September 2025, Hollywood has begun mining the Bachman catalog with unprecedented vigor.
Before this recent surge, only two Bachman novels had made it to the big screen: the 1987 action spectacle The Running Man, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 1996 horror film Thinner. Both films took major liberties with their source material, with The Running Man in particular transforming a gritty dystopian thriller into a bombastic, bloody game show. According to Collider, these adaptations were few and far between, with Bachman’s works largely overlooked in favor of King’s more famous titles. But in 2025, that all changed with the release of The Long Walk, a film adaptation of King’s first-written novel under the Bachman name, and the announcement of a new, more faithful take on The Running Man helmed by director Edgar Wright.
So why the sudden interest in Richard Bachman? As Collider points out, it may just be Hollywood digging deeper into the Stephen King well, searching for fresh material after decades of adapting his more mainstream works. With King’s films consistently performing well at the box office, it’s little wonder that producers would turn to the Bachman books, even if they’re less familiar to the general public. “Money is a motivator,” the outlet notes, “but art made either wholly or in part for financial reasons can still obviously be good.”
Among the Bachman adaptations, Thinner (1996) stands out as a curious case. The film, based on the 1984 novel, tells the story of a man cursed by an elderly Romani man to lose weight uncontrollably. What begins as a seemingly beneficial twist quickly devolves into body horror, as the protagonist wastes away, unable to stop the process. Collider describes Thinner as “a rather mediocre horror movie,” noting that it “just isn’t particularly scary” and that both the book and film are “only really recommendable if you’re a Stephen King completionist.” The film’s technical makeup effects—showing the main character’s transformation—provide some interest, but the story itself is criticized as repetitive and lacking in depth.
The Running Man (1987), on the other hand, is remembered less for its fidelity to the source material and more for its over-the-top action and satirical edge. The original Bachman novel depicted a dystopian America where contestants must literally run for their lives in a televised death game, with survival offering a massive cash prize. The film, starring Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards, reimagines the contest as a violent game show, complete with colorful villains and a parade of deadly challenges. Collider notes, “It’s not a faithful adaptation by any means,” but concedes that it “doesn’t fail as a movie necessarily,” offering enough action and broad satire to entertain. The movie’s enduring popularity has led to a new adaptation, set for release in 2025, this time promising a version more aligned with King’s original vision and directed by Edgar Wright, known for his kinetic style and sharp storytelling.
But it’s The Long Walk (2025) that has truly captured attention this year. Directed by Francis Lawrence—best known for his work on The Hunger Games franchise—and written by JT Mollner, the film is a mostly faithful adaptation of King’s harrowing tale. According to Screen Rant, the story centers on a group of young men in a dystopian America who “volunteer” for an annual walking contest with deadly stakes: each must maintain a pace above four miles per hour, and failure to do so earns a warning. Three warnings, and the contestant is eliminated with a bullet to the head. The winner receives a cash prize and one wish, but the price of victory is steep.
The film makes some notable changes from the book, especially in its ending. In King’s novel, the final two contestants are Ray Garraty and Stebbins; Stebbins collapses from exhaustion, and Ray is left as the winner, haunted and broken, with the story ending on an ambiguous, almost hallucinatory note. In the film, however, the final duo is Ray Garraty (played by Cooper Hoffman) and Pete McVries (David Jonsson), who form a close bond throughout the ordeal. In a gut-wrenching twist, Ray sacrifices himself by stopping, allowing Pete to win. The Major, played by Mark Hamill, executes Ray as he utters his last words, “I’m sorry, mom.” Pete then uses his winner’s wish to obtain a gun, kills the Major, and walks off into the darkness. Screen Rant quotes screenwriter JT Mollner: “The goal with the ending was, and I hope we achieved it, was to make it really surprising and unexpected for Constant Readers who are fans of Stephen King and the book but not to piss them off. Even though it’s a little different, it still feels like it’s got the same spirit.”
The film’s release has been met with both anticipation and trepidation from King’s legion of fans, many of whom consider The Long Walk one of his bleakest and most psychologically intense works. Collider describes the adaptation as “distressing, intense, and largely faithful,” capturing the emotional exhaustion and horror of the original. The decision to reduce the number of contestants from 99 in the book to 49 in the film was made for practical reasons, but the core brutality and existential dread remain intact.
With The Long Walk now in theaters and a new Running Man on the horizon, it seems that Hollywood’s rediscovery of Richard Bachman is in full swing. Whether this trend will continue—and whether other Bachman novels like Roadwork, The Regulators, or Blaze will make it to the screen—remains to be seen. For now, audiences are left to ponder just how far they would go, both as viewers and as participants, in the worlds King and Bachman have created.
As the credits roll on The Long Walk, it’s clear that the Bachman era has found new life, challenging audiences with stories that are as chilling as they are thought-provoking.
