An adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk will finally be strolling into theaters this fall.
During its presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning, Lionsgate confirmed that the Francis Lawrence-directed film will be released wide on Sept. 12. The thriller stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick and Josh Hamilton with Judy Greer and Mark Hamill.
Though it is not the first King book to be published, the novel is notable in that it is reportedly the first he ever wrote, while a student at the University of Main. Published under his pen name Richard Bachman, The Long Walk is described as a dystopian thriller centering on the contestants of a grueling and vicious annual walking contest that requires 100 boys to keep a certain pace without stopping. If they do, they receive a warning. If it happens again, they are eliminated — and killed.
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Strange Darling filmmaker JT Mollner adapted the work. Officially, the studio describes the film like this: “An intense, chilling, and emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question: how far could you go?” In dropping the first look, Lionsgate welcomed Lawrence, Jonsson and Hamill to the Colosseum stage to do the honors in revealing the first look at the film to huge cheers and chat up their collaboration.
Lawrence said he first read the novel 20 years ago and wanted to make it but couldn’t get the rights. “Luckily nobody made it,” he said, adding that his producer Roy Lee stayed on the case and brought it back to him once the rights became available. Lawrence said it’s perhaps his favorite King novel as it delivers a “very interesting” conceit. “You can imagine yourself in the shoes of one of the boys.”
Lawrence added that the heart of the film, to him, is the young men, their brotherhood and camaraderie and “the love that forms” on the walk. “It’s a how can we hold each other up,” he said. Jonsson said that the shooting took a physical toll on the actors as they walked about 10-15 miles each day during the “grueling shoot.”
For Hamill, the role marked an opportunity to play against type as one of the most iconic screen heroes as he plays the antagonist in the film. “None of the actors wanted to meet me,” he quipped of playing the villain. He said that reading the screenplay hit him “like a ton of bricks” as it’s so brual in how it unfolds. “The premise alone is nightmare-inducing but it’s good to get out of your comfort zone.”
Hamill wore sunglasses during his appearance on stage, an accessories choice that was an homage to his character in the film who sports aviators. “I’m not trying to pull a Jack Nicholson,” he joked. Of stepping outside the hero zone, Hamill said, “If you can’t be the hero, there’s nothing better than being the villain. If you get booed and people hate your guts, then you’ve done your job.” Audiences should get prepared as Hamill also plays the arch nemesis in the forthcoming Spongebob Squarepants film. “Three-year-olds are going to hate my guts,” he said to generous laughter.
The trailer landed well in the Colosseum, and it featured a large group of young men setting off on a highway while accompanied by a fleet of army trucks and rifle-toting guards. They are directed to walk “until there’s only one of you left.” Hamill’s character can be heard detailing the toll the walk will take, from the heart or brain stopping to the loss of blood flow. “There’s only one winner and no finish line,” reads a tagline of the “walk or die” journey.
Lawrence has a long and successful history with Lionsgate after having directed The Hunger Games franchise films Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2, and the most recent The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Lionsgate makde The Long Walk with Media Capital Technologies, Vertigo Entertainment and Lawrence’s about:blank production. Producers on it are Lawrence, Roy Lee, Steven Schneider and Cameron MacConomy.
The Long Walk has had a long road to the screen. It previously was set up at New Line under a different creative team. Lawrence has eyed the book since his days working on 2007’s I Am Legend, when it crossed his desk.
“I wanted to do it, but Frank Darabont actually scooped up the rights,” he told Collider earlier this year. “People have tried to make it over the years, and never could. We just kind of cracked it; I worked with JT Mollner, who did Strange Darling. He wrote a great draft, and it came together really quickly.”
CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema owners and Hollywood studios, is hosted in Las Vegas by the newly rebranded Cinema United, which for decades was known as the National Association of Theatre Owners. This year’s edition runs from March 31 to April 3.
