Francis Lawrence Filmed Stephen King's The Long Walk…

Summary

"The Long Walk" by Richard Bachman tells a post-apocalyptic story of young adults walking in an evil contest.
The upcoming movie adaptation, directed by Francis Lawrence, will be released in the fall of 2025.
The film was shot in chronological order to showcase the camaraderie and harsh journey each character faces.

While Stephen King has written countless scary, haunting, and well-written novels, the books published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman are just as memorable. One of them includes The Long Walk, which was released in 1979 and tells a post-apocalyptic story of young adults walking on a highway as part of a dangerous and evil contest.

This competition takes place every year and is filmed and broadcast on TV, which is an unsettling thought. Both versions of the grim tale focus on the main character Raymond Garraty, played by Cooper Hoffman. The movie adaptation will be released in the fall of 2025, and King said it's "merciless."

While there are a few more months to go before The Long Walk is released in theaters, fans have enjoyed watching the compelling trailer, which was recently released. Director Francis Lawrence recently gave an interview and shared how he shot the movie, which will make fans even more intrigued by the upcoming adaptation.

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By Aya Tsintziras

Francis Lawrence Shared He Filmed Stephen King's The Long Walk In Chronological Order

long walk-mark hamill — The Long Walk, Mark Hamill in Stephen King adaptation

In an interview with IGN.com, Francis Lawrence explained that The Long Walk was filmed in chronological order. Lawrence said:

"We shot this movie chronologically and that's not something that I've ever gotten to do. There's just no movie that's been built in a way that sort of afforded me that opportunity. But because of the nature of this movie, these young men gather, they all meet each other, and once they start walking, every day, the location changes and you're in a new scene."

Lawrence continued:

"I realized that the important thing is in this, again, is the camaraderie, as it's the heart of the story."

This creative decision makes sense and brings Stephen King's powerful story to life perfectly. It will highlight the emotional and physical pain that each character feels as they attempt this harsh and dangerous feat. As Lawrence explained, the point is the connection between the main characters as they go on this scary and exhausting journey.

As the director also shared in another interview, The Hunger Games and The Long Walk are different because in the movie adaptation of King's story, the characters aren't attempting to hurt or kill each other. Each person's objective is to keep walking until they can't anymore, in contrast to the dystopian world and many districts of The Hunger Games. While the actors, of course, weren't as physically active as their characters and they got filming breaks, they could likely relate on some level.

Audiences will no doubt become immediately invested in this harsh and cruel story, and the unique way it was shot will no doubt make it even more powerful. Readers want to see the conflicting emotions on every character's face as they wonder how much longer they can keep going and who they can trust. As Lawrence pointed out, the best moments in King's story are when the characters help each other and realize that while only one character will win, they're still on the same team.

The creative minds behind The Long Walk movie adaptation made another smart change: the 100 boys walking on U.S. Route 1 now walk at 3 miles per hour, not 4 miles. Fans are pleased about this as it was a common criticism of the book.

Fans Shared Their Excitement For The Movie Adaptation Of Stephen King's The Long Walk

While fans didn't love the ending of Cujo, Stephen King's impressive collection of books, short stories, and novellas have been terrifying and entertaining people for decades. Many were stunned and amazed by The Long Walk when they first read it, and fans look forward to the movie adaptation.

In a Reddit thread, Redditor @Sleepy_C wrote:

"This looks great. It's perhaps my favourite King story of all, and I think it does a really good job of making a simple concept incredibly haunting."

Another Redditor wrote:

"Oh, I'm so excited! This is my favorite Bachman book and one of my favorites from King ever."

The Long Walk will be released on September 12th, 2025, and fans can see this haunting, dark tale come to life after several decades.

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