The Long Walk has been in some state of cinematic development since the 1980s, with several notable directors trying to get the film made before Lionsgate finally crossed the finish line. One of Stephen King’s earliest stories (and eventually published under the pen name Richard Bachman), The Long Walk is a dystopian story about a group of young men who agree to take part in a challenge: walk as long as they can, with failure to continue swiftly met with a bullet to the head.

The Long Walk has been an underrated classic of the Stephen King canon for decades, with several notable filmmakers openly sharing their love for the story. In fact, multiple filmmakers have tried to get a film adaptation off the ground. Some had worked with Stephen King in the past, while others loved the original story so much that they wrote a draft of the script before even having the rights to the story. Here are all the major directors who tried to make The Long Walk before Francis Lawrence, and what their takes on the concept could have looked like.

George Romero Tried To Make The Long Walk In 1987

The Long Walk has had a long path from the page to the big screen, with several notable filmmakers like George A. Romero and Frank Darabont trying to get an adaptation made for decades before director Francis Lawrence and screenwriter JT Mollner pulled it off. George Romero worked with Stephen King on several projects, including Creepshow — and almost The Long Walk.

According to the Archival Collection of George A. Romero’s film work maintained by the University of Pittsburgh, Romero acquired the rights to adapt The Long Walk in 1987. This came after their time collaborating on projects like Creepshow, highlighting the good working relationship between the pair. It makes sense why Romero would be interested in The Long Walk.

While it’s unclear why Romero didn’t move forward with his version of The Long Walk, it might have suffered similar fates to his thwarted plans to adapt Salem’s Lot and The Stand, both of which were later released as TV miniseries. Romero was planning to direct film adaptations of those books, but they were eventually produced without Romero in the director’s chair.

George Romero would have been an interesting pick for The Long Walk. Romero’s deceptively bleak but consistently entertaining approach to horror would have been a good fit for the dark tone of The Long Walk. His satirical eye for society would have also been an interesting perspective to see The Long Walk‘s grim ᴀssessment of the world through.

Frank Darabont Got The Rights To The Long Walk In 2007

Eventually, the rights to The Long Walk lapsed away from George A Romero, who shifted back to his own zombie-led narratives. The rights then shifted to Frank Darabont, who had plenty of experience in adapting King’s works. Having already helmed the film adaptations of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist, The Long Walk seemed like a natural follow-up..

Darabount seemingly thought so, noting his intentions to make The Long Walk more of an arthouse indie than the larger-scale approaches he brought to the prison of Shawshank Redemption or the supernatural elements of The Mist. According to an interview he gave with UGO, Darabont intended for his take on The Long Walk to be “weird, existential, and very contained.”

However, Darabont never got the chance to make his low-key version of The Long Walk. The most likely reason for this is The Walking ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Darabont developed and executive-produced the mᴀssively successful show, which dominated his time. Darabont was eventually fired from his position as showrunner by AMC. Afterwards, Darabont shifted away from the horror genre for a time.

Darabont directed Mobland and returned to writing, working on films like Godzilla and The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Eventually, the rights to The Long Walk lapsed. Darabont’s version of The Long Walk would have likely embraced a similar approach to the grounded character beats of Francis Lawrence’s version.

James Vanderbilt And André Øvredal Almost Made The Long Walk With New Line

In 2018, New Line Cinema picked up the rights for The Long Walk once they lapsed from Darabont. Planning a new adaptation, New Line brought in screenwriter and producer James Vanderbilt. Having written several films like the tense serial killer thriller Zodiac and the big-budget superhero reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, Vanderbilt made for an interesting pick.

According to reporting by Collider, Vanderbilt had long been a fan of the original book. He’d even reportedly written a draft of a The Long Walk feature-length film on spec, merely out of admiration for the original story. Vanderbilt penned the screenplay for the film, likely bringing that initial pᴀssion into the project.

In 2019, ᴅᴇᴀᴅline reported that André Øvredal was set to helm the adaptation, with Vanderbilt’s screenplay locked. Having helmed the youthful scary film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Øvredal made sense as a director for the project. However, the rights lapsed in 2022 with the film unproduced and the team departing the project.

It’s unclear why the project fell apart. It’s likely that, given the timing of the production and the necessity for a тιԍнт cast in closed locations, James Vanderbilt and André Øvredal’s version of The Long Walk was one of the many movies that stalled out as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. It’s a shame, too.

James Vanderbilt’s script would have been interesting to see, especially given his tonal flexibility in previous screenplays. The teenage elements were the best parts of The Amazing Spider-Man, and his Zodiac script remains an all-time great showcase for his talent in writing a thriller. His The Long Walk would have likely benefited greatly from his script and Øvredal’s direction.

Lionsgate, Francis Lawrence, And JT Mollner Finally Got The Long Walk On The Big Screen

While it’s a shame that Vanderbilt’s pᴀssion wasn’t enough on its own to get The Long Walk produced, it’s ultimately just one stop in a winding road that leads to a pretty great movie. After the rights lapsed, Lionsgate quickly acquired the concept and brought in Francis Lawrence to direct the movie and JT Mollner to write a script.

The script was well-received by the studio, leading Lionsgate to move ahead with the project. On top of his impressive track record directing The Hunger Games series with Lionsgate, The Long Walk‘s focus on authentic young characters trapped in a dystopian society. Given his past films, it was a good fit for Lawrence’s grounded and gritty approach.

Unlike the previous attempts, Lawrence’s The Long Walk was able to quickly gather a cast and begin production in the summer of 2024, leading to a fast turnaround and a September 2025 release. It’s exciting, as a fan of the original story, to see The Long Walk finally make it to the big screen.

While it’s had a winding path in the adaptation process, the consistent run of impressive directors interested in the project speaks to the enduring core qualities of the story. There’s something deeply human in The Long Walk‘s tragic story. Having seen the movie, I can ᴀssure Stephen King fans that The Long Walk is everything they’ve been waiting for.

While the other filmmakers who almost made The Long Walk would have brought their own unique flavors to the adaptation, I’m ecstatic with the version that we got. The Long Walk has endured for decades as a story of youthful struggle in the face of an uncaring society, and has finally reached the finish line after a lot of false starts.

Source: University of Pittsburgh, UGO, Collider, ᴅᴇᴀᴅline