It has been a major year for Stephen King films. Four of his stories have hit cinemas in 2025: The Monkey, The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk and The Running Man. And two more have graced the small screen – The Institute and the Pennywise origin series It: Welcome to Derry.
Indeed, there was a moment in British cinemas earlier in the year, where you could watch The Life of Chuck and have the film preceded by trailers for the other three cinematic adaptations, making King’s work feel ubiquitous right now.
Both The Long Walk and The Running Man were originally written by King under his pseudonym Richard Bachman – a name he used to try out dark stories that leaned more towards speculative fiction. In his 1982 novella, The Running Man, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) takes part in a reality show that will earn him $1 billion (£750 million), provided he survives 30 days. No one ever has, but Richards’ daughter is gravely ill and his wife has turned to sex work to earn money to try to pay for her treatment.
