In 2025, we’re getting two high-profile studio movies based on Richard Bachman novels (author Stephen King‘s pseudonym), with Francis Lawrence‘s “The Long Walk” on September 12 and Edgar Wright‘s “The Running Man” coming to screens on November 7. Both skew more in the realm of dystopian and sci-fi rather than the straight horror genre, which King is known for.
The new Lionsgate flick based on King’s first written story (he was only 19 at the time and was influenced by all the young dying in the Vietnam War) has landed some first-look images that were posted over at Vanity Fair, as the genre flick focuses on “a group of young men in a dystopian future who embark on a life-or-death marathon with no set finish line.”
“You write from your times, so certainly, that was in my mind. But I never thought about it consciously,” King told Vanity Fair on writing “The Long Walk,” which he once thought would be too dark to be turned into a film. “I was writing a kind of a brutal thing. It was hopeless, and just what you write when you’re 19 years old, man. You’re full of beans and you’re full of cynicism, and that’s the way it was.”
READ MORE: ‘The Running Man’: Edgar Wright Calls Remake “A Very Intense, Dangerous Road Movie” & Compares Glen Powell To Bruce Willis In ‘Die Hard’
Assembled for “The Long Walk” is a cast that features Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”), David Jonsson (“Alien: Romulus”), Charlie Plummer (“The Return”), Ben Wang (“Karate Kid: Legends”), Roman Griffin Davis (“Jojo Rabbit”), Judy Greer (“Halloween Ends”), and Mark Hamill (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”).
Lawrence is best known for his work on the “Hunger Games” sequels, as he’s putting a cast together for “The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping,” after tackling the other prequel installment, “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” The director is also trying to get DC Studios and WB to greenlight a sequel to the Keanu Reeves horror superhero flick “Constantine.”
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You can view those first-look stills from “The Long Walk” below and get excited, as a trailer is likely just around the corner.
