Stephen King's The Long Walk Becoming A Movie From Hunger Games Director Francis Lawrence
Before there was "The Hunger Games," there was "The Long Walk." So it's perhaps only fitting that "Hunger Games" franchise helmer Francis Lawrence is now attached to direct an adaptation of Stephen King's 1979 dystopian novel. Published under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, "The Long Walk" is set in a future where teenage boys are forced to walk for miles and miles without rest along U.S. Route 1. If any of the walkers drop below 4 miles per hour for more than 30 seconds, they get a warning. That might not sound too bad, but here's the rub: if anyone gets three warnings, they're shot dead. Essentially, the contestants are forced to walk until they drop. The last surviving walker is then given both a sum of money and a prize of their choice.
A potential film adaptation of King's book has been kicking around for years and years, and Lawrence is just the latest name to be attached to the project. In fact, this has been in one form of development or another for so long that I'm just going to go out on a limb and say this movie will never, ever happen.
But hey, maybe this time it will!
The Long Walk
While speaking with Business Insider, Francis Lawrence, director of "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," revealed that he's now set to helm a film adaptation of Stephen King's "The Long Walk." "I'm now attached to 'The Long Walk,' the Stephen King book. Very excited about that," Lawrence said. Since "The Long Walk" is about teens being forced to participate in a deadly competition, getting Lawrence to direct makes a certain amount of sense — he's helmed four of the five "Hunger Games" films, after all.
Then again, Lawrence is just the latest name to be attached to a potential "Long Walk" movie. George A. Romero, Frank Darabont, and "Last Voyage of the Demeter" helmer André Øvredal were all involved with the adaptation at one point or another. Will Lawrence finally be the one to get the film made? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I have my doubts. "The Long Walk" is one of the few King books that has yet to be adapted to the screen, and perhaps the material is just too dark to translate. Here's the book's synopsis:
Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as the Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping...with the winner being awarded "The Prize"—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you're given a warning. Three warnings and you're out of the game—permanently...
Fun fact! "The Long Walk" was actually the first novel King wrote, although it would not be the first novel he published — that honor would fall to his now-classic "Carrie." "The Long Walk" is a somewhat simple story, so it shouldn't be too hard to adapt. The key would be to keep things lean and mean. Can Lawrence do that? Time will tell.