Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman and HBO Industry actor David Jonsson are set to headline Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk for Lionsgate.
JT Mollner, known for his work on the upcoming ‘Strange Darling,’ is writing the screenplay. Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee is producing.
Deadline first reported that the big screen take of the 1979, King pseudonym Richard Bachman novel, was set up at New Line with André Øvredal directing from James Vanderbilt’s script.
The rights lapsed in the summer of 2022. New Line had struggled with another King adaptation, ‘Salem’s Lot,’ which was planned for cinemas but ultimately moved to streaming service Max.
The Long Walk takes place in the future where 100 teenage boys embark on an annual competition known as ‘The Long Walk.’ The rules are simple: maintain a speed above 4 miles per hour. Receive three warnings in an hour and you’re shot dead. The last one walking gets whatever he wants for the rest of his life.
Under these grim circumstances, the boys develop deep friendships despite knowing each other’s survival threatens their own. The book shares the spirit of other King coming-of-age stories, drawing comparisons to Stand by Me and It.
Lionsgate and Lawrence are also collaborating on another literary adaptation—Suzanne Collins’ prequel to ‘The Hunger Games,’ titled ‘Sunrise on the Reaping.’
This upcoming novel will delve deeper into the mythology of Panem and is set to be published on May 19, 2025.
The story was initially reported by Deadline and confirmed shortly after by The InSneider.
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