Stephen King’s books and stories have been adapted for decades, and the 2020s continue to be a fruitful time for such adaptations. This year has already seen the release of The Monkey, an adaptation of King’s short story of the same name. In just a few weeks comes The Life of Chuck, a movie helmed by director Mike Flanagan. While many directors have taken on King’s work over the years, Flanagan has been a staple in these adaptations, steering the ship for films like Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game.

After the June theatrical release of The Life of Chuck, 2025 will see another highly anticipated King adaptation, although this time not from Flanagan. Francis Lawrence, best known for directing four of The Hunger Games movies, is directing an adaptation of King’s 1979 novel The Long Walk. This dystopian story centers around a group of teenage boys who participate in a compeтιтion called “The Long Walk,” in which they must maintain a set walking speed or risk being sH๏τ and killed. While the adaptation is expected to be released in September, it has seen a tough path to the screen.

The Long Walk Was The First Book Stephen King Ever Wrote

But It Wasn’t Even Published Under His Own Name

While it has taken 46 years for The Long Walk to get from bookshelves to the big screen, its origin story is even more extensive than that. King, now 77, began writing the novel while attending high school. At that time, the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. American people were dying overseas at a rapid rate, and it was especially affecting young people. The young author may not have been “consciously” writing in response to the war, but the work was informed by it. In an interview with Vanity Fair, King stated:

“You write from your times, so certainly, that was in my mind. But I never thought about it consciously. I was writing a kind of a brutal thing. It was hopeless, and just what you write when you’re 19 years old, man. You’re full of beans and you’re full of cynicism, and that’s the way it was.”

King finished writing The Long Walk during college in 1967 and was determined to publish the book. The writer submitted the dystopian novel to Random House in a contest for first-time novelists. After hearing no, King temporarily threw in the towel on The Long Walk, noting that he “just never sent it anywhere else. Just put it in a drawer.”

Much like its journey to the big screen, The Long Walk then saw an extended lull period, but its story was not over. King’s first full-length novel, Carrie, was published in 1974 and was adapted for the big screen in 1976. This decade also saw the release of instant classics like The Shining and Salem’s Lot, compelling the author to want to publish some of his previously unpublished works, including The Long Walk.

The Long Walk hit yet another stumbling block, however, when he tried to resuscitate the forgotten novel with publishers. They worried that there were too many King books already out on the market, which, as per his Vanity Fair interview, could be a “drag on the market.” Persisting, the author decided to publish The Long Walk under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. So, the 1979 debut of the book was finally there, but it was not even originally attributed to King by name.

Hollywood Has Tried To Make The Long Walk Movie For Decades

And Some Heavy-Hitting Directors Couldn’t Crack It

The Long Walk’s journey to the big screen was not any easier than the book’s journey to publication. The film was first slated to be adapted in the late 1980s by Night of the Living ᴅᴇᴀᴅ director George Romero. Frank Darabont, who had previously adapted The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist, secured adaptation rights a couple of decades later, but those eventually lapsed when the film took too long to come to fruition. Perhaps film producers also fretted about the market being overrun with King adaptations, though the author does not specifically identify this as a limiting factor.

King does provide one factor as to what may have held The Long Walk back, saying that the book had a “merciless quality” which may have made it a tough sell to investors. While the author is not sure what has changed, it could have something to do with the fact that theatergoers’ stomach for unrelenting dystopia has increased over time. Lawrence’s own book adaptation series, The Hunger Games, showed teenagers being murdered by each other and their corrupt government. On the TV side of things, shows like Squid Game have been “merciless” in their kill counts. тιтles like these have expanded audiences’ tolerance.

An Adaptation Of The Long Walk Finally Hits Theaters In September

It Comes With An Interesting Horror Pedigree

After all its publication and adaptation struggles, The Long Walk is finally getting to the big screen in September. In the end, it has become an interesting collaboration. The script is adapted by JT Mollner, who was previously behind the erotic horror thriller Strange Darling. On the directing side, Lawrence is well-versed in book adaptations and directed the apocalypse horror movie I Am Legend.

In addition to being a horror mashup, it is also an intriguing career step for actor Mark Hamill. While he has long contributed his voice-acting talents to play villains like the Joker, Hamill has been less likely to play a live-action villain. Portraying the Major in The Long Walk could signal a potential career pivot for him, trending in the direction of live-action villains. All of these contributors make the long-overdue The Long Walk adaptation even more exciting.