The Long Walk has given Stephen King fans another movie adaptation of his work in 2025. Following the releases of The Monkey and The Life of Chuck, the film version of the 1979 novel that the author published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman was released by Lionsgate on September 12.

Currently, The Long Walk is only playing exclusively in theaters. There is no at-home viewing option, and the King movie’s low box office performance suggests that many may be waiting for that opportunity to see the new adaptation.

Ever since the pandemic, many studios have shortened theatrical windows to expedite streaming releases. Lionsgate has taken a different approach from its bigger compeтιтors, though, which could leave you waiting to watch The Long Walk on streaming for several months.

The Long Walk Will Likely Be Released On Streaming In March 2026

Lionsgate has not announced when The Long Walk‘s streaming release date will be. Since the movie comes from Lionsgate alone, it is expected to stream exclusively on Starz, the streaming service the studio acquired in 2016.

Lionsgate movies do not always stream on Starz, with Den of Thieves 2 going to Netflix being a recent example of different streaming deals the studio has in place. This is not a factor for The Long Walk, allowing us to look squarely at the history the studio has with this service.

Over the last few years, a Lionsgate movie debuts on Starz on average 163 days after the theatrical launch. Borderlands (138 days) and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (152 days) are тιтles that went to streaming faster than usual. The most common gap for Lionsgate is 180 days.

That’s how long the studio waited to put The Expendables 4, Saw X, Arthur the King, and The Crow on Starz. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came one day earlier at 179 days. If Lionsgate waits 180 days in this instance, The Long Walk would debut on Starz in mid-March 2026.

That would be the most logical prediction to make based on how frequently Lionsgate uses that release window. To narrow it down more, 180 days after The Long Walk‘s theatrical release would be March 11, 2026. Should the studio want to move things up slightly, there is a chance it could come in February and more align with the overall average gap.

Lionsgate’s Recent Movies Could Move The Long Walk’s Streaming Release Date Up

It is worth noting the possibility that Lionsgate may be in the midst of changing its streaming strategies with Starz to shorten the gap and could change the expectations for The Long Walk.

It was recently announced that the John Wick spinoff Ballerina will make its streaming debut on Starz on September 25. That is just 111 days after its theatrical release on June 6. Ballerina‘s gap between theaters and streaming is the shortest for a major Lionsgate-to-Starz movie I’ve found going back to the start of 2023.

That’s notable because Lionsgate previously gave John Wick: Chapter 4 a 174-day window. The Ana de Armas-led spinoff was not nearly as successful at the box office, which may have resulted in the quicker move to streaming.

But, this could also be the first example of the studio shortening its theatrical-to-streaming timeline more consistently. Lionsgate and Starz finalized a deal in May to split into two different, publicly traded companies. Ballerina was the studio’s first IP movie to come out after this, making that shorter release gap more notable.

If The Long Walk receives an identical gap as Ballerina, the movie would start streaming on Starz on January 1, 2026. Considering the Stephen King movie is not a bona fide box office hit so far, the earlier release could come once again.