While bothThe Running ManandThe Long Walklook like exciting Stephen King projects, the two adaptations have one worrying thing in common.Stephen King’s 66 bookshave inspired a lot of classic movies, but his oeuvre has also spawned some true duds. For every all-time great movie likeThe Shining, there is a misfire likeDreamcatcher.
Many ofKing’s best movie adaptations, like 2025’sThe Life of ChuckorThe Shawshank Redemption, are based on the author’s novellas. This format seems particularly well-suited to screen adaptation, perhaps because novellas aren’t as complex as full-blown novels but also aren’t as straightforward and self-contained as short stories.
That said, King’s short stories can spawn some great movie adaptations as well.2025’s King horror movieThe MonkeysawLonglegsdirector Oz Perkins spin a blackly comedic, surprisingly life-affirming story of generational trauma from a far simpler King story.
The Running Man and The Long Walk Are Based On Stephen King’s Richard Bachman Books
King Debuted The Richard Bachman Pseudonym In 1977
With any luck,The Running ManandThe Long Walkwill turn around King’s recent cold streak at the box office. AlthoughThe Monkeyfared well,The Life of Chuckunderperformed, and 2024’s critically deridedSalem’s Lotreimagining went straight to VOD after multiple lengthy release date delays.
BothThe Running ManandThe Long Walkare based on novels that King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman as part of a famous literary experiment.
Before that, 2022’sFirestarterwas a box office disaster and a major failure with critics, while the comparatively well-likedDr. Sleepunderperformed upon its release back in 2019. Thus,The Running ManandThe Long Walkneed to do well to improve King’s box office standing, but, unfortunately, the two adaptations have something else in common.
BothThe Running ManandThe Long Walkare based on novels that King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman as part of a famous literary experiment. King published 1977’sRageas “Richard Bachman” to allow him to write and publish more books without saturating the market with more than one Stephen King title annually.
Now notably out of print and disowned by King himself, the school shooting novelRagewas the first of seven Bachman books. However, it is worth noting thatThe Long Walkwas written beforeRage, and before the rest of King’s entire oeuvre, for that matter. Although not his debut novel,The Long Walkwas the first book King completed.
What Makes Stephen King’s Richard Bachman Books So Different
The Author’s Bachman Novels Are Pulpier And More Violent
Althoughone recently announced Stephen King adaptationaims to bring his longest novel ever to life on the big screen, viewers should expect something a little different fromThe Running ManandThe Long Walk.King’s Bachman books tend to be grittier and pulpier than his novels under his own name, with more gore and a less literary voice.
Of course, this doesn’t always hold true for each of the Bachman books. 1981’sRoadworkis slower than the brutal dystopian stories ofThe Running ManandThe Long Walk, while 2007’s unusualBlazestrikes an entirely original tonal balance that is unique even among King’s novels.
Published in 1979 under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman,The Long Walkwas the first novel King wrote, but not the first to be published.
However, 1984’sThinneris a full-blown body horror that is among King’s grisliest stories, and bothThe Running ManandThe Long Walkhavedark endings that would fit horror novelsas comfortably as they suit these sci-fi stories. Theoretically, this should bode well for screen adaptations.
One of the hardest parts of bringing any novel to life onscreen is recapturing the internal monologue featured in books, so pulpier novels are often perfect fodder for screen adaptation. Less focused on detailed description and more interested in engaging action, these books can often read like screenplays.
However, earlier attempts to bring Bachman to life onscreen prove this is not always so simple. Released in 1996, director Tom Holland’sThinnerwas met with disdain from critics and disinterest from viewers.
King’s Earlier Bachman Movies Prove The Running Man and The Long Walk Are Risky
Bachman Adaptations Struggle To Recapture King’s Box Office Success
1985’sFright Nightand 1988’sChild’s Playalone prove that Holland was exactly the sort of campy horror mastermind who could have madeThinner’s premise work on the big screen. A classic King story,Thinnerfollows a lawyer who is cursed to waste away after he kills a woman in a car accident.
What could have been a fun morality tale was instead viewed by critics as bland, pedestrian, and derivative, proving that the Bachman books weren’t necessarily solid fodder for adaptation. Things only get worse when one considers that1987’s originalThe Running Manbarely broke even, earning $38 million on a budget of $21 million, and received mixed reviews.
While 1996’sThinnerwas a financial and critical flop,Ragehas never been adapted and likely never will be, thanks to its controversial subject matter. This track record proves that the Bachman books aren’t necessarily reliable for King, unlike novels and novellas that were released under his own name.
The fact thatThe Long Walk’s screenwriter was tappedfor another King adaptation,The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, seems to bode well for the movie’s chances. Evidently, someone at the studio believes in its potential. However, the history of the Bachman brand isn’t all that hopeful.
If these upcoming adaptations fare better than their predecessors, they will be the first Bachman movies to succeed in King’s long screen career. Thus,The Running ManandThe Long Walkmay have to turn around a decades-long Stephen King trend to succeed.
