The adaptation of Stephen King’s famous novel The Long Walk is still moving forward even after so many roadblocks due to COVID-19.
Stephen King is known for his science-fiction, suspense, fantasy novels, supernatural fiction, and horror films. He has published around 61 novels, five non-fiction books, and seven under his pen name Richard Bachman. King is also known as ‘King of Horror’ and has received World Fantasy Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards. Hollywood has been adapting his novels for years. IT was the first movie adapted from his novel. Currently, the adaptation of The Long Walk is under production.
The Long Walk is a horror genre that explores the political and social structure through fiction. Stephen King wrote the novel under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. The Long Walk was one of the best 100 books for teenagers between 1966 and 2000. The novel is not King’s first published book, but it was his first written novel.
The novel’s plot follows one hundred teenage boys who join an annual walking contest called ‘The Long Walk,’ and the participants are called ‘Walker.’
The contestants have to maintain a speed of four miles per hour, and even if their rate drops by 30 seconds, the player receives a verbal warning. If the walkers slow down again, they receive three warning tickets. And soldiers will shoot down the players if they violate any rule of the game.
George A. Romero approached to adapt the film in 1988, but that project never went any further than discussions. In 2010, Kirby Heyborne narrated the novel as an audiobook adaptation for Blackstone Audio. After many futile attempts by many filmmakers, in 2018, New Line Cinema announced the novel’s adaptation. James Vanderbilt is hired to write the film’s screenplay and produce the project along with William Sherak of the Mythology Entertainment production and Bradley Fischer. André Øvredal joined the team as a director on May 21, 2019.
During a recent interview with ComingSoon, Øvredal shared he could not provide many details about the movie and the project’s status. However, fans can get some temporary relief as he said, the project is alive and moving along.
Filmmaker Øvredal’s statement is reassuring that the production of the film is under work. Still, the current progression stage of the movie is also unclear at this moment. Along with The Long Walk, Øvredal is currently working on other projects, including a Dracula movie, The Last Voyage of Demeter for Amblin Entertainment, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 for Lionsgate. Both the projects are also hanging on uncertainty as none of these have a production schedule and confirmed release dates.
The Long Walk has the potential to become a big hit. Hopefully, the production New Line Cinema and filmmaker Øvredal soon figure out when the team will start working on the King’s novel. The book The Long Walk is a standalone story, so it is not possible to create a franchise. Fans are hoping for some further details about the project, and they are expecting the team will soon reveal the cast.
Source-The Long Walk: Stephen King’s Adaptation is Still Moving Forward
