Earlier this year, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Long Walk (which was, like The Running Man and Thinner, published under the pen name Richard Bachman) went into production, with director Francis Lawrence, whose previous credits include Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2, Red Sparrow, Slumberland, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, at the helm. Now, cast member Judy Greer (the Halloween and Ant-Man franchises) has said that the film Lawrence has made out of King’s story is beautiful and dark.

An adaptation of The Long Walk has been trudging through development hell for decades. At one point, the rights were in the hands of Frank Darabont, who made the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist. Then the rights passed over to New Line Cinema, where Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal was hired to direct the film from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt, whose credits include the two most recent Scream movies. While doing the press rounds for his film The Last Voyage of the Demeter last year, Øvredal revealed that he was no longer involved with The Long Walk, and said not making that movie is one of the big regrets of his life. 

Strange Darling writer JT Mollner has written the screenplay for the version of The Long Walk that’s being made. The novel is set in a future dystopian America ruled over by a militaristic dictator, and the titular event is an annual contest in which 100 teenagers must keep a steady pace of at least four miles an hour under strict rules until only one of them is left alive. The winner receives “The Prize”: anything they want for the rest of their life. The story follows Raymond Garraty, a 16-year-old from Pownal, Maine, as well as a group of other teenagers with good, bad, and mysterious intentions.

Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus), Garrett Wareing (Ransom Canyon), Tut Nyuot (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Charlie Plummer (National Anthem), Ben Wang (American Born Chinese), Jordan Gonzalez (Pretty Little Liars: Summer School), Joshua Odjick (Welcome to Derry), and Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit) star in the film alongside Greer and Star Wars legend Mark Hamill, who just recently finished working on another King adaptation called The Life of Chuck.

Lawrence is producing the film through his company about:blank, alongside Roy Lee, Cameron MacConomy, and Steven Schneider. Meredith Wieck and Erin Jones-Wesley are overseeing for Lionsgate. Filming took place in rural locations throughout the province of Manitoba.

Speaking with Collider, Greer said, “The Long Walk is based on a novel Stephen King wrote in 1979. It was in response to the Vietnam War. Our movie kind of takes place again in sort of like a timeless place. Like there’s some technology, but then there’s a lot of throwback elements to the script. Francis Lawrence directed it, and Cooper Hoffman is the star. There are so many great young actors in this movie. I’m excited for all the talent that’s going to emerge. It’s a really, really, really dark story, and it’ll probably be perfect for when it comes out. My husband just read the book, and every night in bed, he’d be just turning a page going like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ I’m like, ‘I know. I was telling you every day when I was shooting.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, but it’s really dark!’ It’s a dark story about a competition show. But it’s beautiful, and the performances that I got to watch when I was on set were stunning.“

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