«The Hunger Games» in Stephen King’s universe: the first footage of the dystopia «The Long Walk» that Hollywood has been trying to make for 40 years

Francis Lawrence, known for directing «The Hunger Games», returns to dystopia and survival games — this time with the adaptation of Stephen King’s novel «The Long Walk».

At the center of the story is a dystopian America where the main entertainment is an event called «The Long Walk» involving 100 teenage boys. The participants have to walk continuously along route 1, and if they are warned three times that they are walking too slowly, they will be shot. Whoever survives and reaches the finish line will receive a large sum of money and a «prize» of their choice.

King published the novel back in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and since then Hollywood has repeatedly tried to adapt the story. In 1988, director George A. Romero received an offer, and later, in 2007, the rights to the film adaptation passed to Frank Darabont — as we can see, only the last attempt was successful, with Francis Lawrence, who, in addition to «The Hunger Games», was noted for his work on the post-apocalyptic horror film «I Am Legend» and the thriller «Constantine: Lord of Darkness».

The film stars Charlie Plummer, David Johnsson, Cooper Hoffman, Ben Wan, Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Garrett Wearing and Roman Griffin Davis.

The first images published on the site Vanity FairThe images of the film’s tension give an idea of the intensity of the film and clearly signal that there is nothing glamorous about this dystopian world. Even the cloudy sky seems to reflect the suffering of the protagonists as they walk relentlessly and are watched by relentless soldiers. We are waiting for more information from the first trailer, which is likely to be released soon.

We would like to remind you that Lawrence is simultaneously working on a prequel to «The Hunger Games», dedicated to the history of Haymitch — Katniss Everdeen’s mentor and winner of the 50th anniversary competition in Panem. The main role Joseph Zada took over (previously played by Woody Harrelson), while his girlfriend Lenore Dove will be played by Whitney Peake. The movie, which has been prefixed with «Sunrise to Harvest» according to a new book by Suzanne Collins, will take the story 24 years back and will tell about the way of Haymitch to win the games, which are promoted in the announcements as «the deadliest» because they take «double the tribute» from the districts (48 boys and girls will take part in the competition), and the ones that will unfold against the backdrop of a «tragic love story».