The Long walk movie

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

Machine's Way

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”
Jul 13, 2009
671
2,877
44
Baltimore
So this is interesting news. Everyone always knew that Frank D. Had the rights but as per this article he let them lapse and now its possibly going to be made.
I absolutely love this story, one of my top 5. I am happy and nervous about this at the same time. Lets hope it gets the justice it deserves. Already with the "Hunger games" references, guess we cant avoid that although it was written in 1979.

Stephen King's The Long Walk Movie Now In Development At New Line
 

Luke Nukem

Member
Jun 15, 2018
10
49
40
Yorkshire, England.
For some reason, I kept mis-remembering "The Long Walk" as "The Jaunt" and was sort of nervous that they'd ruin one of his creepiest stories. I haven't read the Bachman stories so I'm back on board looking forward to this one now.

You MUST read the Bachman stuff. Some of his best work imho.

The Long Walk was the first Bachman story I read, and after many re-reads is still as powerful as the first time I read it. I cannot see a film doing justice to the story, as much as I cannot see the story lending itself well to the big screen.

I fear they will ruin The Long Walk by adapting it to film as it will need much padding out to keep audiences interested, just like what the film adaptation of The Running Man did.
 

LilCoffinhunter

Active Member
Apr 16, 2018
27
127
45
I'll have to delve into the Bachman books. As a child of the '80s, I really liked The Running Man film but I also recognize that doesn't necessarily make it a decent adaptation. I liked Total Recall too and it was pretty different from the source material (which I also read after seeing the movie). It's funny because changes to the concepts and ideas of the original are the things that are making me hesitant to watch The Dark Tower or the HBO version of Fahrenheit 451.
 

osnafrank

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2017
7,121
50,822
47
Germany
I'll have to delve into the Bachman books. As a child of the '80s, I really liked The Running Man film but I also recognize that doesn't necessarily make it a decent adaptation. I liked Total Recall too and it was pretty different from the source material (which I also read after seeing the movie). It's funny because changes to the concepts and ideas of the original are the things that are making me hesitant to watch The Dark Tower or the HBO version of Fahrenheit 451.


While reading "Running Man" i compared to the Movie. Stopped comparing after 50 Sites, because there is nothing to compare but the Names
Thje adaption is off the mark
 

Coolallosaurus

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2018
252
1,666
You MUST read the Bachman stuff. Some of his best work imho.

The Long Walk was the first Bachman story I read, and after many re-reads is still as powerful as the first time I read it. I cannot see a film doing justice to the story, as much as I cannot see the story lending itself well to the big screen.

I fear they will ruin The Long Walk by adapting it to film as it will need much padding out to keep audiences interested, just like what the film adaptation of The Running Man did.

Totally agree with your thoughts about the adaptation! When I read the article about it being film I was pretty surprised. The novel feels like it would be hard to adapt for a wide audience given that a large chunk is just Garraty's thoughts and the rest is dialogue-driven/based in interactions between the boys. In the right hands it could be a fantastic film that both honors the source material while doing something original (kind of like Stand by Me), but given the current trend in cookie-cutter dystopic teen action films (peppered with the obligatory love triangle), I am not sure. Here's holding out hope I will be totally wrong and the film will be great!
 

Coolallosaurus

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2018
252
1,666
General question for the people here that are Bachman fans: I will be teaching a Stephen King class and am planning to incorporate Bachman into the class. If you had to vote for a must-read Bachman, would you all agree The Long Walk is a must read for understanding SK as an author? Any votes for a different Bachman? I am trying to decide between having the students read The Long Walk in full or just having them read about the Bachman books (including Rage) and SK's use of a pseudonym.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
General question for the people here that are Bachman fans: I will be teaching a Stephen King class and am planning to incorporate Bachman into the class. If you had to vote for a must-read Bachman, would you all agree The Long Walk is a must read for understanding SK as an author? Any votes for a different Bachman? I am trying to decide between having the students read The Long Walk in full or just having them read about the Bachman books (including Rage) and SK's use of a pseudonym.
My vote would be for The Long Walk. Even before Carrie was published friends and peers read it (TLW) and saw the raw talent that King would explore for years to come.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
25,119
65
dublin ireland
General question for the people here that are Bachman fans: I will be teaching a Stephen King class and am planning to incorporate Bachman into the class. If you had to vote for a must-read Bachman, would you all agree The Long Walk is a must read for understanding SK as an author? Any votes for a different Bachman? I am trying to decide between having the students read The Long Walk in full or just having them read about the Bachman books (including Rage) and SK's use of a pseudonym.
My favorite from that collection is Road Works. The story is so sad and deals with how hard it can be to let memories go.My all time favorite Bachman is Blaze. Thr perfect homage to Steinbeck.
 

prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
12,657
The Caribbean
You MUST read the Bachman stuff. Some of his best work imho.

The Long Walk was the first Bachman story I read, and after many re-reads is still as powerful as the first time I read it. I cannot see a film doing justice to the story, as much as I cannot see the story lending itself well to the big screen.

I fear they will ruin The Long Walk by adapting it to film as it will need much padding out to keep audiences interested, just like what the film adaptation of The Running Man did.
I agree. Bachman is irreverent, unapologetic, creepy, grossed-out ,in your in face. I miss him.
 

Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
I like that this is coming to the movie medium, as it was a great book, but I would have rather seen someone like Jason Blum/Universal doing it. Clearly Warners knows the value of the King trademark and is serious about it, but Blumhouse seems to have such momentum behind it. At least a major studio is attached (imagine if Lionsgate was handling this?).

Here's what I hope for. Add some more rules, or change some of them. As an example, maybe have rest periods of thirty minutes here and there and use that as a springboard for ideas (been a long time, but I don't think that was in the book). Have it set roughly in the near future, not too far into the future (can't recall what the time period was in the book, nor all the rules, assuming there were more than what I was reminded of by the linked Deadline article), so social media can have a big part. Maybe have the Walk be a reaction to current times. Maybe have more than one prize winner, like the top three at the end. Have both men and women in the walk (wasn't it just males? I might be wrong on that). If there were females in it, one interesting scene could be a pregnant woman dying on the road while giving birth (or maybe she is dead and still gives birth, a la The Breathing Method!). Just some thoughts...

Main thing is, though, maybe cast it with a lot of stars that get eliminated fairly quickly, a big ensemble that perhaps slots celebrities in for a day's shooting to keep above-the-line costs down. But cast a couple major stars so it might be ambiguous who wins. Too bad Jennifer Lawrence already did that YA franchise, she might have been good in this as the lead...as for other young stars who could be in it, I really can't think of any at the moment. And I'm not sure who The Major should be...definitely might want to try a gender-reversal there, as well...

And lastly, as always, I do hope this is one of those projects in which King financially participates. King's team must have be having a great time brokering all the deals he does participate in...
 

César Hernández-Meraz

Wants to be Nick, ends up as Larry
May 19, 2015
605
4,416
44
Aguascalientes, Mexico
I have not read this story, so I cannot think of any specific characters and who could play them. But that idea of casting stars has merit. I would vote for Logan Lerman. Also bring Owen Teague so he has one more SK work. Same for Tom Taylor.

Someone I'd like getting big jobs is Toby Nichols. He was young Danny Rand from the first season of Netflix's Iron Fist. Going by his Instagram account, he is a funny lad who interacts a lot with his fans, and he seems very likeable. It would be nice to see him get more and more recognition.