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The Long Walk

edited August 3 in Adaptations
New Line Cinema, which made the big-screen version of Stephen King’s It, is staying in the King business, setting its sights on adapting his novel The Long Walk.

James Vanderbilt, who was behind the Robert Redford-Cate Blanchett drama Truth, has written the script to adapt the book, which King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

Vanderbilt will also produce with Bradley Fischer and William Sherak. Mythology Entertainment is the company behind the project and the company's Tracey Nyberg will executive produce.

First published in 1979, Long Walk is set in a future dystopian America ruled by an authoritarian. The country holds an annual walking contest in which 100 teens must journey, non-stop and under strict rules, until only one of them is still standing alive to receive the prize. The story told of a 16-year-old walker named Raymond Garraty and the teens — some good, some bad, some mysterious — in his orbit.

Setting up the project is a culmination of over a decade’s work for Vanderbilt and Fischer. The two are fans of the book and were keen to bring it to the screen, but it was in development for years with writer-director Frank Darabont, who previously made the King-based projects The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist. Vanderbilt even wrote his initial drafts on spec several years ago, without having the screen rights. Those rights finally left Darabont, allowing the duo to pounce and bring them to New Line.

King is a hot commodity, thanks to the unexpected smash success of 2017's It, which grossed $700 million worldwide. Paramount is remaking Pet Semetary, while his book The Tommyknockers just got set up at Universal with James Wan and Roy Lee producing after generating a bidding war.

Vanderbilt made a name for himself writing such action blockbusters as the Amazing Spider-Man movies and White House Down before making his directorial debut with 2015's Truth, an intimate drama about the news story that cut short the career of Dan Rather. He is repped by WME.
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  • André Øvredal To Direct Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’ For New Line

    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal is set to direct New Line’s feature adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk.

    James Vanderbilt wrote the screenplay and is also producing with Bradley Fischer and William Sherak.

    Øvredal is the critically acclaimed, award-winning director of the mystery thriller The Autopsy of Jane Doe. His horror pic,Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, co-written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, opens August 9 from CBS Films.

    The Long Walk is one of three King adaptations in the works at New Line. The others include Salem’s Lot and It: Chapter Two, the sequel to 2017’s $700.3 million global blockbuster It which became the highest-grossing horror film of all time. It: Chapter Two opens September 6.

    Øvredal is repped by WME, Industry Entertainment, and Adam Kaller & Duncan Hedges. Vanderbilt is repped by WME, UFUSE Management and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

  • [Director Andre Ovredal] recently revealed what audiences can expect from the adaptation and how it differs from other King projects.

    “It’ll be very claustrophobic, because we never leave that road," Ovredal shared with Rue Morgue. "I think the studio and producers really liked my work on The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and compared it to this, because it’s very intimate. You’re walking right there with these kids; the fact that it has an expansive nature around it, as opposed to just walls, is a variation, but it’s going to be an extremely claustrophobic movie.”

    The Autopsy of Jane Doe explored a father and son team of morticians who began to investigate a woman's body in their morgue, only for supernatural occurrences to begin to unfold. With his film Trollhunter, a group of documentary filmmakers chronicled a man who was tasked with vanquishing the fantastical creatures, creating another intimate experience.

    Despite the dystopic premise, the story unfolds in a relatively grounded way. Ovredal detailed what he feels the story truly represents, which will likely be reflected in his vision.

    “In a way, the book is about the long walk of life,” the director noted. “You watch your family and friends die around you as you go through life, and there’s a human connection there to the horror these kids are experiencing that goes way beyond the smaller story going on right in front of you. As a director, it’s extremely inspiring to be able to tell a story that is so human and so gruesome at the same time. It’s like man vs. the machine in a way, and about the innocence of these boys and how they don’t really grasp what they’ve gotten themselves into until it’s way too late."

    He added, "I’m in awe of Stephen King for having understood so much about humanity at the age of 18 or 19 when he wrote this. It’s an adult story, but written with a young person’s perspective, probably of the Vietnam War; it’s kind of an allegory, I’m guessing, for his fears of being sent to Vietnam at the time."

    >>> Source

  • André Øvredal: What I find so amazing about that one is that it's a challenge, an incredible challenge for a director because I have nothing to hide behind. It's actors, a camera, and the dialogue of the script. It's just a walk and talk, and I've got to create suspense and intensity and the performances have to be great. So, to me, it's a really huge challenge and I can't wait to do it because it's breaking new ground for me as well.
  • The California Film Commission has announced the latest round of tax credits for film productions. Warners snagged a $7.1 million for its Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk”.
    GNTLGNTNeesy
  • edited March 2022
    What will it be titled? I ask because didn’t Kingcast say there was a movie coming out called The Long Walk not king related? Or maybe I heard that at Mick Garris’s Postmortem.  Maybe by the time this is made, it won’t matter but there will be confusion.  Kind of like King saying watch our for the fake Gwendy. 
    GNTLGNTNeesy
  • The Autopsy of Jane Doe was a nifty thriller. Gives me hope that André Øvredal can do The Long Walk justice.

    Too bad, Darabont is no longer interested in doing it.
    Hedda GablerGNTLGNTNeesy
  • Too bad, Darabont is no longer interested in doing it.
    Darabont hasn't really done anything for quite a while.
    Hedda GablerGNTLGNTNeesy
  • Yeah, Darabont found the whole movie business too draining. His experience with The Walking Dead put the final nail in his creative coffin.
    GNTLGNTHedda Gabler
  • Director André Øvredal signed on to direct an adaptation of The Long Walk all the way back in 2019, and he provided an optimistic update about the project in late 2020, but the latest development isn’t anywhere near as positive. Speaking with the filmmaker last month during the virtual press day for his new movie, The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (in theaters August 18), I asked if there were any updates about his in-the-works Stephen King project, and he provided the sad news:

    Yeah, no, I love that book. I love that project. I'm not part of it anymore, which I'm very sad about, but I think in a way I was lucky to get on [The Voyage Of The Demeter] basically instead.

    While it’s possible that things are still being worked on behind the scenes, André Øvredal’s The Long Walk isn’t a movie that’s being made, and with that downer of an update, my fear rises that we will never get to see an adaptation made – which is too bad because the book is brilliant.

    >>> Source

    FlakeNoirKurbenGNTLGNTHedda Gabler
  • That's disappointing. 🥹
    KurbenGNTLGNTHedda Gabler
  • Director Francis Lawrence is now attached to "The Long Walk [Source]
    Hedda GablerKurbenLou_SytsmaGNTLGNTFlakeNoir
  • Lionsgate has picked up the rights to the 1979 dystopian novel, with Francis Lawrence in final talks to direct. JT Mollner will pen the script.
    GNTLGNTHedda GablerKurbenFlakeNoir
  • Fingers crossed.
    FlakeNoirGNTLGNTHedda Gabler
  • Lionsgate International to launch Cannes sales on ‘The Long Walk

    Lionsgate International will launch sales in Cannes next week on Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, which The Hunger Games franchise director Francis Lawrence will develop, direct, and produce.

    Genre maestro Roy Lee will produce with Lawrence and the latter’s about:blank producing partner Cameron MacConomy, and Steven Schneider.

    Lionsgate picked up the project late last year after it had been at New Line. JT Mollner is adapting the screenplay based on the 1979 novel published under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman.

    The Long Walk focuses on a dystopian America where people are entertained by the brutal titular event in which 100 teenage boys walk without rest along US Route 1. Each competitor must keep walking faster than four miles per hour or risk being eliminated.

    not_nadineGNTLGNTHedda GablerFlakeNoir
  • Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman and HBO Industry actor David Jonsson are currently in the mix to headline Francis Lawrence’s take on Stephen King‘s The Long Walk for Lionsgate.

    >>> Source
    Hedda GablerFlakeNoir
  • MadLib Casting and Film Services has a casting call out for several different background roles in La Riviere and the surrounding area for the movie "The Long Walk" which is an adaptation of the Stephen King book of the same name.

    They are looking for a male farmer role who appears 35 or older, a woman to play a farmer's wife who appears 30 or older and someone to play a farmer's daughter who is between the age of 13 and 17.

    All those positions need to be available for Aug. 7.

    They are also looking for people to sit on chairs, kids between the ages of six and 10 to play on a porch and a man to drive a pickup truck. They need to be available for Aug. 12 and 13.

    They are paid roles and people can find more details online.

    >>> Source

    GNTLGNTKurbenHedda Gabler
  • Lionsgate has commenced production on The Long Walk, its adaptation of the 1979 novel from Stephen King, starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, adding seven to the cast.

    The newcomers are Garrett Wareing (Ransom Canyon), Tut Nyuot (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Charlie Plummer (National Anthem), Ben Wang (American Born Chinese), Jordan Gonzalez (Pretty Little Liars: Summer School), Joshua Odjick (Welcome to Derry), and Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit). 

    >>> Source

    GNTLGNT
  • Judy Greer and Mark Hamill (The Life of Chuck) are the newest additions to the cast 
    GNTLGNTKurbenFlakeNoirnot_nadineHedda Gabler
  • Just east of Poplar Point, scenes for a movie were filmed this week entitled, 'The Long Walk,' adapted from a Stephen King novel. The last day of shooting is Wednesday, July 31. 

    >> Read more and see behind-the-scenes photos
    GNTLGNTKurbenHedda Gabler
  • edited August 2
    'A Very Hardcore, Disturbing And Somewhat Controversial Movie': Stephen King's The Long Walk Screenwriter Confirms Adaptation Will Not Be Pulling Any Punches
    We didn't really pull any punches. Most of the stuff that you remember being tough to take in the book still exists. And there are some tweaks made to update it that I think are smart… But I'm very happy with the adaptation as a Stephen King fan. I'm really happy with what we did with it. And even the studio notes that came in and the feedback from everybody, everybody was on the same page as far as staying true to the brutality and the seriousness of the book.


    not_nadineGNTLGNTHedda Gabler
  • I remember being absolutely exhausted with aching feet while reading.    
    KurbenGNTLGNTHedda Gabler
  • ....no point in making the film if it was going to be sunshine and rainbows....
    KurbenHedda Gabler
  • GQ sat down for an interview with David Jonsson while he was promoting his new movie Alien: Romulus. During their conversation, the topic turned to The Long Walk, and he shared some insight into how "beautifully brutal" the process of filming the Stephen King adaptation has been. 

    It’s a brilliant story, man. I’m working with Francis Lawrence, who did I Am Legend, The Hunger Games; we’re shooting this dystopian tale of endurance and brutality, which is partially why I’m kind of living in this log cabin and walking 14 miles a day. It’s kind of brutal, but I think it’s really going to be something… beautifully brutal.

    >>> Source

    GNTLGNTnot_nadineHedda GablerFlakeNoir
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