Stephen King's Adaptations Number Over 100, But This Book May Never Make It to Screens

Stephen King 's books that have not yet been adapted fall into three groups: "no one tried to adapt it," "someone tried but couldn't adapt it," and "someone is trying to adapt it right now."

The Long Walk is just one of those books, and it belongs to both the second and third categories. Stephen King himself considers it to be one of his best novels. The author created it as a student, but could not publish it for a long time.

What is The Long Walk About?

The characters in The Long Walk live in an alternative future America. Once upon a time there was a global catastrophe, but the author deliberately hides the details from us. It is now a police state ruled by a dictator known as the Major.

On his initiative, a survival game is held every year – 100 young men, accompanied by military personnel, set out on a certain route. If the participants slow down, they receive warnings. Three warnings result in execution. The game continues until one participant is left alive. The main prize is the fulfillment of a wish.

The Long Walk Has Had a Difficult Fate As Both a Book And a Movie

This novel has perhaps the most difficult fate of all Stephen King's books. Not only cinematically, but also literarily. King wrote The Long Walk in 1966, when he was just 19 years old. The gritty tale of teenagers participating in a marathon walk to survive against the backdrop of a dystopian state was indeed ahead of its time: The Hunger Games and its many imitators came more than half a century later.

In 1967, the young King submitted his book to a contest for aspiring writers, but The Long Walk was not even accepted for consideration. All the publishers Stephen sent the novel to rejected it.

It was not until 1979 that King began publishing his early work under the pen name Richard Bachman. The Long Walk was also published, but it never found its readers. It was not until much later, when the novel was published under King's name, that readers fully appreciated the uncompromising and emotional work of the young author.

The Long Walk's Tough Adaptation History

In 2007, King's favorite director, Frank Darabont, said that after The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist, he would like to adapt The Long Walk, which he adores and reads regularly. Unfortunately, audiences never got to see Darabont's adaptation.

In April 2018, New Line Cinema picked up the project and even hired director James Vanderbilt. In 2019, it was reported that Warner Bros. was interested in the project and offered the production to director André Øvredal. The director was happy to accept such an offer, but filming never began.

In late 2023, the rights to The Long Walk were purchased by Lionsgate and Francis Lawrence was hired to direct, but no progress has been made since then, and fans of the book have almost lost hope of seeing it on the big screen.