The movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk will reportedly not be toned down for the big screen, staying true to the King of Horror’s bleak foray into dystopian fiction. Published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk has been in development for decades, and is finally making it to movie theaters on Sept. 11, 2025.
The Long Walk depicts a group of teenage boys who participate in the тιтular compeтιтion and must walk as long as they can, as they will be killed if they fail to keep pace; this goes on until there is only one left standing. Thus, it is certainly a dark and disturbing book, but this has not always remained the case with movies adapted from such source material.
However, while The Long Walk movie is not yet officially rated, it seems to be leaning towards an R rating. At the movie’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, where ScreenRant was in attendance, The Long Walk‘s screenwriter, J.T. Mollner, talked about penning the movie to be “faithful” to its source material. Check out his comments below:
Sometimes the idea of writing for someone else can be nightmarish. This time, it was a dream. He wanted to go all the way. King wanted us to go all the way. I knew we could be honest and faithful. If this got into the hands of the wrong studio or filmmaker, it could have lost it […] it has teeth.
What This Means For The Long Walk
It Stands A Better Chance Of Telling The Story That King Wanted To
Hollywood has often rolled back on the darker tones or mature content of novels when adapting them in order to market their movies to a broader audience. This was notably done with the Hunger Games franchise, the last four installments of which were directed by The Long Walk‘s director, Francis Lawrence.
Francis Lawrence and Ben Wang did not attend The Long Walk‘s SDCC panel as they are currently filming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
While the Hunger Games movies are still upsetting, the crew doing an admirable job of conveying the story’s themes while adapting it for a younger fanbase, The Long Walk can delve deeper into the horrors that are often a fundamental part of dystopian fiction. It comes at a different time in the cultural zeitgeist and is geared towards a different audience.
We can expect The Long Walk to be an especially harsh look at the themes that are often inherent to this type of story, which will make them more impactful. Softer dystopian stories may be easier to sell, but they ultimately sometimes lose the very point of the premise. The Long Walk could be a truly great movie by showing what a dystopia actually denotes.
Our Take On The Long Walk Being Darker Than Other Dystopian Movies
It Might Not Be For Everyone, But It Will Do Justice To Its Story
In the years since the young adult dystopian craze died down, we have seen some more adult dystopian or battle royale stories, namely The Handmaid’s Tale and Squid Game. Frankly, if The Long Walk were toned down for its movie adaptation, I don’t think it would be able to keep up in the genre’s current market.
The Handmaid’s Tale and Squid Game are too difficult to watch for some, but these series undeniably excel at deconstructing and critiquing the aspects of society they set out to tackle. The Long Walk will hopefully be another spectacular Stephen King adaptation because it ended up with the right writer and director, who did not shy away from the hardest parts of the story.
