Francis Lawrence directs "The Long Walk" by Stephen King

With "The Long Walk", Stephen King published a gripping survival thriller under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979, which is considered a forerunner of its genre. Now the story of Garraty, McVries and co. is to be made into a film under the lead of "The Hunger Games" director Francis Lawrence.

"The Long Walk"' tells the story of a dystopian world in which a group of selected boys have to run for their lives. A lifetime of luxury awaits the sole winner. In terms of mercilessness, the film adaptation will, according to initial information, consistently follow the original novel. In an interview with Cinemablend, screenwriter JT Mollner confirmed that it was apparently important to director Francis Lawrence and Stephen King himself to capture the gloominess of the original. The aim of everyone involved was to make a film that remained true to the story. No compromises were made in the process:

"We didn't really pull any punches. Most of the stuff that you remember being tough to take in the book still exists."

Filming is currently taking place in Canada, but there is no start date yet. The main roles are to be played by Charlie Plummer, David Jonsson, "Jojo Rabbit" actor Roman Griffin Davis and Cooper Hoffman – known from "Licorice Pizza" – among others. Judy Greer and Mark Hamill will also be seen.