Stephen King has had a massively profitable yr, and he has yet another film popping out with the Richard Bachman-penned The Operating Man. This yr alone noticed King launch a brand new novel, By no means Flinch, whereas 4 movies and two streaming sequence have been launched primarily based on his work. Two of the flicks have been primarily based on his Richard Bachman books.
The 4 films launched in 2025 included two primarily based on brief tales, The Monkey and The Lifetime of Chuck, and two from the Bachman books, The Lengthy Stroll and The Operating Man. He additionally had a streaming sequence primarily based on The Institute and a prequel to It. With two profitable Bachman films in 2025, right here is the following Bachman story Hollywood must adapt.
Operating Man & The Lengthy Stroll Opens Door For Roadwork
The 2 greatest Richard Bachman diversifications arrived in 2025. Whereas The Operating Man is a cult favourite amongst Arnold Schwarzenegger followers, the brand new Edgar Wright film is extra devoted to the supply materials and is a greater film general. Thinner was a low-budget horror film that most individuals have already forgotten about.
Nonetheless, The Lengthy Stroll was a darkish thriller with unimaginable performing and intense scenes. The brand new model of The Operating Man is an explosive motion film that hits on each stage. It’s time to capitalize on the Richard Bachman curiosity to lastly flip Roadwork into a movie. Nonetheless, followers want to know that it is a very totally different story.
Stephen King revealed Roadwork underneath the Richard Bachman pseudonym in 1981, shortly after his mom died. His mother died of most cancers the yr earlier than, and he was attempting to make sense of it, which is when he wrote this tragic story. Within the intro to The Bachman Books, he wrote:
“Roadwork tries so exhausting to be good and discover some solutions to the conundrum of human ache.“
The story follows a person named Barton George Dawes, who’s indignant that the town is planning a brand new freeway extension. This turns into even worse when he learns the challenge will run by way of his property and, underneath eminent area regulation, he’s being compelled to promote his home and transfer. Since his son died of a mind tumor three years earlier, Dawes has recollections tied to his house.
In consequence, he decides to struggle this, and when he cannot legally do something about it, he lastly chooses violence. What outcomes is a narrative coping with trauma and the way one man’s loss can destroy him, particularly in a world that does not care about something apart from making extra money.
Roadwork additionally has greater than a contact of presidency corruption working all through the storyline, and it ought to play nicely right this moment. Nonetheless, in contrast to most Stephen King films, that is an grownup drama, and it could be more durable to promote than one thing like The Operating Man and even The Lengthy Stroll.
Roadwork Is Very Totally different From Different Stephen King Tales
The Lengthy Stroll was probably the most anticipated Stephen King diversifications, as followers had been ready years for it to succeed in the large display screen. Names as diverse as George A. Romero and Frank Darabont wished to direct it, and it has been handed round since 1988. Nonetheless, it wasn’t till this yr that it was made by The Starvation Video games director, Francis Lawrence.
Earlier than this, the one Richard Bachman books to be tailored into films have been the 80s motion flick The Operating Man and the 90s low-budget horror movie Thinner. Neither movie made a mark, although The Operating Man is a cult favourite in some circles, regardless that it has nearly nothing to do with King’s unique story past the competition itself.
That stated, Roadwork is totally different from nearly each different Stephen King story underneath the Richard Bachman pseudonym. The Operating Man is an motion thriller, Thinner is pure horror, Rage is a highschool drama, and The Lengthy Stroll is a dystopian thriller. Nonetheless, Roadwork is a straight drama with some very darkish subject material.
This can be a slow-burning drama about one man who seemingly finds himself alone, preventing towards a corrupt system that has all of the sources on the earth in its pocket. It’s also, above all else, about trauma. It seems a little bit just like a film like Michael Douglas’s Falling Down, however Dawes does not actually snap right here. He simply stands his floor.
It will take a particular actor who understands the nuances of Dawes’ character to play him straight and preserve him sympathetic to the tragic finish. It additionally wants a director who understands that this isn’t a thriller and that it’s a story that should play out evenly. Have a look at Frank Darabont’s work on Shawshank Redemption and The Inexperienced Mile as the place to start out.
Stephen King Calls Roadwork His Favourite Bachman Story
What’s fascinating is how the story has grown through the years since its publication. In his introduction to The Bachman Books, Stephen King stated he did not just like the story for years. It reminded him of his personal trauma, and he felt it wasn’t a superb story exterior that trauma. He has since modified his thoughts.
Within the introduction of the unique launch of the Bachman Books as a group, King stated he wrote Roadwork between ‘Salem’s Lot and The Shining, and he wished to show that he may write one thing “severe.” He then stated that, on the time, he believed Roadwork was the “worst of the lot.”
Nonetheless, within the newer launch, there may be additionally a brand new introduction, and he modified his tune. Now, Stephen King says that Roadwork is his “favourite of the early Bachman books,” with out explaining his change of opinion. Nonetheless, King is correct. Roadwork is a unbelievable story, and it must be the following Richard Bachman film.
