The Long Walk Is Stephen King's Hunger Games – And Far More Brutal

Today, it was announced that Stephen King's "The Long Walk," one of the famed horror writer's best, gnarliest, and most intense novels, will become a movie. Again. Francis Lawrence of the "Hunger Games" franchise and "Constantine" is the latest filmmaker to enter the revolving door of talent that regularly circles this film adaptation. If you recall stories about everyone from Frank Darabont to André Øvredal making this movie, your memory isn't faulty. Every couple of years, someone tries, and fails, to make "The Long Walk" into a film. 

But why? And why is it so hard to adapt this particular book in an age where Stephen King movies have proven themselves extremely viable at the box office? (Looking at you, "It.") The problem is that, unlike most King novels, where it's possible to sand off the harsh, profane edges to make a more crowd-pleasing experience (Looking at you, "It"), the bleak evil of "The Long Walk" is baked so thoroughly into the very premise that it cannot be softened without losing the very reason to tell the story in the first place.

For those who don't know, "The Long Walk" tells the story of an annual competition in a future dystopian America where 100 teenagers (all volunteers) start walking down the same road, escorted by soldiers. If they fall below a certain speed, they get a warning. If they get three warnings, they are executed on the spot. The last standing teen gets the prize of their choice.

Bleak stuff! But like the best King stories, there's a humanity to "The Long Walk," and so much specificity to its characterization, that you feel compelled to see it through to grueling end. It's easily one of the author's nastiest, cruelest books, but also one that's deeply tapped into why we choose to suffer.

On the surface, it's easy to see why Lawrence would land this gig. After all, he's already an expert in "dystopian teen death match" after directing four of the five "Hunger Games" movies, but he's also a slick genre filmmaker who shoots stylish, visually appealing movies. But unlike "The Hunger Games," where the violence could be PG-13 and many of the deaths obfuscated through editing and framing, "The Long Walk" is a movie that's literally about the violent execution of 99 suffering, unarmed teenagers. You can't bury that. You can't hide that. It's the very premise of the thing. Imagine asking a movie studio to pony up a reasonable budget for that. In fact, I think the only way Lawrence gets this made is by going full Paul Verhoeven — cast a bunch of the trendiest, most popular TikTok stars on the planet to make the whole project bankable, and then decimate them over a grueling 120 minutes.

Honestly, the worst case scenario here is a half-assed "The Long Walk," which would be worse than no film adaptation whatsoever. And Lawrence has already presided over a similar case. His adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" has a tense, near-perfect first hour before it pulls its punches, ditching the best ending in genre fiction history for something tidier and generic. If Lawrence is the guy to get this made, I hope he digs in his heels.

The /Film crew talked about "The Long Walk" and major movie news from the past week, and you can listen to the full conversation here:

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts, and send your feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and mailbag topics to us at bpearson@slashfilm.com. Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention your e-mail on the air.