Stephen King called his upcoming horror story adaptation «merciless,» and The Long Walk has the potential to be the author’s bleakest cinematic outing. It was initially published in 1979 under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman, a name he used for books like The Running Man and Thinner. King would publish several books under the moniker of Bachman, using the name for stories that often veered into science fiction and outside the horror genre, for which the author had become known.
The film adaptation of The Long Walk will hit theaters later this year, boasting a stellar team of creatives. The movie is directed by Frances Lawrence, who helmed numerous installments of the Hunger Games franchise as well as Keanu Reeves’ Constantine. The writer and director of the lauded horror film Strange Darling, JT Mollner, penned the script. The cast includes Charlie Plummer, Mark Hamill, Garrett Wareing, Judy Greer, Ben Wang, and Cooper Hoffman. With a story from King’s mind and the exceptional team working on the film, it may prove truly affecting, and the story could leave viewers in despair.
The Long Walk Tells One Of Stephen King's Bleakest Stories
The Long Walk tells the story of an annual contest in which a group of teenage boys compete in a long, arduous walk. However, the horrifying caveat is that they must maintain a certain speed, and if they fail to do so, they are shot and killed. As the recent trailer shows, the contestants are given three warnings, after which they can begin walking again or face a bullet when the count ends. Hoffman’s Raymond Garraty, the book’s protagonist, struggles and befriends other young men who will be picked off in the coming days and hours. Moments of tension revolve around tying shoes and walking with injuries, knowing that if they fail, the only outcome is death. As the trailer lets potential audiences know:
«There’s one winner… and no finish line.»
The stakes at play in The Long Walk ensure that audiences will be put through an endurance test too. They will see contestants continually murdered, knowing there is nothing to stop it from happening, and no matter what, they will march to their deaths one by one. The story may intercut the walk with flashbacks to the contestants’ lives, fleshing out who they are and their lives before the walk. This would help from a story standpoint, but makes it that much harder for audiences to watch them put down without remorse.
The walk itself is meant to be a horrific, televised event to demonstrate the power of the brutal totalitarian regime that rules over this society. However, the novel did include a cash prize. So even beyond seeing each man marching to his death, the ultimate prize is life, which will undoubtedly be rife with psychological traumas from here on out. Therefore, even when winning, there may be no true victory, as the book was considered to feature a nihilistic ending. While King is no stranger to telling dark, morbid stories, The Long Walk may be his bleakest tale.
The Long Walk Had An Equally Long Road To The Screen
Since its publication in 1979, The Long Walk has been destined for the screen, with several noted filmmakers circling the project. After working with King on 1982’s Creepshow, the master of zombie movies, George A. Romero, first attempted to adapt the book. While that never materialized, Shawkshank Redemption director and Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont tried to adapt The Long Walk in 2007, having proven himself a master with King’s works.
The project eventually landed with international director André Øvredal, who is known for The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Trollhunter, until it ultimately moved to Lionsgate, landing in Lawrence’s hands. While speaking with Vanity Fair, Lawrence also admitted that The Long Walk «crossed my desk in 2006, around the time I was making I Am Legend.» As it turns out, Darabont got his hands on it. Lawrence stated:
I totally fell in love with it. We went to get the rights, and I think it might have been Frank Darabont who had nabbed them right before we could. I fell in love with it, but we couldn’t do it.
However, Lawrence is bringing the first film adaptation of The Long Walk to the big screen. King spoke on the numerous failed attempts to bring the book to life, saying, «I think maybe what held it back in those other adaptations is that merciless quality,» admitting that «This is a painful one.» While audiences may be more receptive to a film like The Long Walk, thanks to shows like Squid Game and the popularity of Lawrence’s own Hunger Games films, the story has had a troubled road to the screen despite the material connecting with several highly talented directors.
How Will The Long Walk Measure Up To King's Other Dark Adaptations?
King is known for telling some of the darkest horror stories the world has come to know. Carrie saw a young girl bullied at school and at home, only to lash out with violent powers. The Shining tells the harrowing tale of a man who loses his mind and the demons that plague him and his family at a secluded location. Even Pet Sematary would see a family lose their young child, only to bury them in a pet cemetery that brings them back to life as an ungodly creature.
One of King’s bleakest film adaptations is The Mist, which sees an ominous fog befall a town, forcing residents to band together in a grocery store or face the monsters outside that occasionally breach the haze. The ending of The Mist is often regarded as one of the most depressing finales in cinema history. It features a man who slays his fellow survivors, thinking it to be a release from their fate, only for him to be left alone, with rescue arriving shortly after. He’s left with the horror of knowing their deaths were pointless, as rescue was moments away. However, that ending was famously added to the story by writer and director Frank Darabont, with King stating that he wished he had thought of it, as the story has a more ambiguous finale.
Still, when King’s other story adaptations measure up to The Long Walk, it features one of the darkest stories the author has managed to tell. Even with things like Storm of the Century under his belt, which sees a small town sacrifice a child to a demonic entity to save the lives of other kids, King may have outdone himself with The Long Walk, which promises to be his bleakest film adaptation yet.
