'The Long Walk' – Stephen King adaptation begins filming; more castings are in the works

After a long development stage, finally the adaptation to the big screen that Lionsgate prepares from the novel by Stephen King, The Long Walkcontinues on its way.

The film directed by Francis Lawrence (saga The Hunger Games, Constantine, I Am Legend), and script written by JT Mollner (Strange Darling), announced the start of production, in addition to revealing the following new signings (via Deadline):

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

These seven join the previously announced protagonists, Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) y David Johnson (Industry, Alien: Romulus).

No details have been given about the roles played by the cast.

Recall that the project was previously being developed at New Line and André Ovredal was set to direct James Vanderbilt's script. However, New Line's rights expired in the summer of 2022. That's when Lionsgate stepped in and restarted the project with a new director and a new screenwriter.

The Long Walk It was published in 1979, written by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

The plot revolves around a group of 100 teenage contestants in a dystopian future in the United States., who must engage in brutal competition, Crossing the country walking without stopping, where they are forced to obey certain rules and restrictions. If any of them pause for too long or stray from the route, the snipers do not hesitate to shoot them. The competition ends when only one of them is left alive. The book focuses primarily on the contestant Raymond Garraty, a 16-year-old teenager.

The story shares some similarities with another of King's works, The Running Man. This in turn served as inspiration for the saga The Hunger Games. The Running Man It hit theaters in 1987, with a film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and María Conchita Alonso.

The adaptation is produced by Lawrence, alongside Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee, Cameron MacConomy, and Steven Schneider.