Story by Roy N. Sickner
The original story of one of the great American Westerns came from a working stuntman with an idea he carried for nearly a decade.
Roy N. Sickner wrote the original story of The Wild Bunch. He pitched it to Sam Peckinpah on the set of Major Dundee in 1964, came up with the title, and brought in the young screenwriter Walon Green to develop it with him. He carried the project through nearly ten years of dropped commitments and studio resistance before Peckinpah directed it. Roy shared the story credit with Green, served as associate producer, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.
The basis of the story began as a pitch from Hollywood stunt performer, "Marlboro Man," and bit part actor Roy N. Sickner, looking to power move up the chain to producer of his own material. He also came up with the title. — Cinephilia Beyond, The Wild Bunch
From the productionStory by Roy Sickner
From the title page of the February 7, 1968 production draft:
On the recordHow the film is credited
On-screen credit (1969)
Screenplay by Walon Green and Sam Peckinpah, from a story by Walon Green and Roy N. Sickner.
Academy Award nomination
Best Original Screenplay, 42nd Academy Awards (1970) — Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah, Roy N. Sickner.
Writers Guild of America
Named one of the 101 Greatest Screenplays of all time (2006).
Producer credit
Associate producer, The Wild Bunch (1969).
SourcesThe record, in public
- Cinephilia Beyond — The Wild Bunch
- IMDb — The Wild Bunch (1969)
- Wikipedia — The Wild Bunch
- 42nd Academy Awards (1970)
- The Wild Bunch, production draft dated 2/7/68 — title page shown above. Original held by Cinephilia Beyond research archive.