The Long Walk has now gotten an official release date. The movie, which was directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by JT Mollner, is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman) about a dystopian America where teenagers are forced to endure a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly marathon walk where there is only one survivor. The upcoming The Long Walk stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Judy Greer, Garrett Wareing, Roman Griffin Davis, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, and Mark Hamill.

ScreenRant was in attendance at the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. During the event, it was officially announced that The Long Walk is set to debut in theaters on September 12. Although the schedule could change as the year goes on, this sees it debuting in theaters on the same weekend as the period drama Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and the belated mockumentary sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

A brief teaser was shown as well:

Opens on road in the middle of nowhere, with several dozen people introducing themselves. Then they started walking, then we see people around them in military weapons. One person falls to their knees, starts screaming, and someone gives them three warnings. After the third warning, that person shoots the walker.

“If you fall below the speed of 3 miles per hour, you get your ticket. Walk until there’s only one of you left,” Hamill says. We see various people stop walking, trying to run away, getting sH๏τ, etc. Including people walking with a gun to their heads.

What This Means For The Long Walk

This Release Date Could Serve It Well

This release date could indicate a certain amount of confidence in The Long Walk, as that is the exact frame when 2017’s It debuted before becoming the highest-grossing Stephen King movie of all time. That тιтle, which featured Bill Skarsgård as the menacing shape-shifting enтιтy Pennywise, grossed $701 million worldwide and was followed by the sequel It: Chapter Two, which was also released in that early September frame and earned $467.6 million, following its predecessor as the second highest-grossing King movie.

The adaptation of the early Stephen King book has also been given a prime slot for a horror or horror-adjacent movie in general. As the autumn approaches in the Northern Hemisphere and Halloween looms, horror movies tend to find strong theatrical audiences. However, September 2025 has found itself suddenly bereft of major genre тιтles because the previously scheduled The Bride! was pushed back to a March 2026 release while Saw XI was removed from the schedule entirely, allowing The Long Walk to fill a genre void.

Our Take On The Long Walk Release Date

It Has The Makings Of A Hit

Ultimately, it makes sense why Lionsgate seems to think that they could have a major hit on their hands. The Long Walk boasts a cast that is chock-full of established stars as well as up-and-coming talent, and its dystopian premise is a perfect fit for Francis Lawrence, who has previously helmed four of the five installments in the Hunger Games franchise and is attached to the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping, based on the new prequel novel. All of this points to the film’s strong potential to find its audience, and this release date has given it ample opportunity to prove its worth.

Source: Lionsgate