'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Long Walk is expected to be one of the most buzzed-about dystopian thrill rides of 2025, lensing by Francis Lawrence and bound for a September 12 release from Lionsgate.
The film has a grim premise: a batch of teen boys must march at a predetermined speed, under military observation, or risk execution. The action takes place in a dystopian America under a totalitarian government, where the cost of entertainment has become mortal.
With a premise so stark and psychologically charged, it's little wonder the film is rooted in literature. For those who read Stephen King, the title might seem familiar, as The Long Walk has been one of his most quietly deadly novels for years. And now, over four decades since its initial publication, the book is finally being brought to the screen.
Trending
Exclusive preview to the hottest show this season RIGHT HERE.
Exploring details on The Long Walk movie being based on a book
The Long Walk is an adaptation of a 1979 novel of the same title by Stephen King using the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Surprisingly, although it was published after some of his greatest successes, like Carrie and Salem's Lot, The Long Walk was the first novel King penned during his freshman year at the University of Maine in the late 1960s.
It gained a cult following over the years and was a part of the 1985 collection, The Bachman Books. A separate hardcover edition was also published by Centipede Press in 2023.
With its bare-bones storytelling and psychological intensity, the novel has long been regarded as one of King's most eerie pieces, despite being by far less supernatural than many of his more famous tales.
Its premise, a contest of walking to deadly effect, has continued to be chillingly pertinent in discussions of authoritarianism, spectacle and stamina.
What happens in The Long Walk novel?
Based on an alternate United States under a totalitarian government, the novel focuses on a yearly event known as the Long Walk. One hundred teenage boys are chosen to compete in a walking competition down a major American highway.
The conditions are straightforward yet inhuman: every boy must keep a speed greater than four miles per hour. A drop below this speed warrants a warning, and three warnings result in immediate death at the hands of armed guards. The walk goes on until there's only one survivor left.
The victor is offered any reward they desire, but the price of victory is living through the deaths of all the other participants.
The novel chronicles Ray Garraty, a youth from Maine, who enters the game with unstated motives but increasing terror. Along the way, he identifies with fellow walkers, like the obdurate Peter McVries, the mysterious Stebbins and others who gradually deteriorate physically and psychologically.
As the walk continues, friendships are formed, rivalries develop, and the crowd cheers for boys who will soon die. The book not only portrays physical weariness, it goes deep into psychological trauma, existential terror and what it's to survive when survival itself proves unbearable.
The conclusion, much like the rest of the book, is vague, darkly poetic and emotionally devastating.
Read More: The true story behind Surviving Ohio State on HBO, explained
Who stars in the movie?
The movie adaptation of The Long Walk features Cooper Hoffman playing the title role of Raymond Garraty, providing the emotional anchor for the film. David Jonsson stars as Peter McVries, a witty and rebellious character.
Garrett Wareing is Stebbins, the enigmatic walker with a secret tie to the regime. Mark Hamill appears in the series as the Major, the stern tyrant who's in charge of the walk.
Other roles are played by Charlie Plummer as Gary Barkovitch, Ben Wang as Hank Olson, Joshua Odjick as Collie Parker, Tut Nyuot as Arthur Baker, Roman Griffin Davis as Thomas Curley and Jordan Gonzalez as Richard Harkness.
Judy Greer will be seen as Ms. Garraty, while Josh Hamilton and Izabella Raven complete the cast. With this cast and the movie's dark subject matter, The Long Walk should prove to be a chilling and provocative take on one of Stephen King's earliest, and most subtly unsettling, novels.
For the unversed, The Long Walk is scheduled to release on September 12, 2025.
