Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson In Talks To Lead Lionsgate’s Feature Take Of Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk
Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman and HBO Industry actor David Jonsson are currently in the mix to headline Francis Lawrence’s take on Stephen King’s The Long Walk for Lionsgate.
JT Mollner (the upcoming Strange Darling, from Miramax and Magenta Light Studios) is writing the screenplay. Vertigo’s Roy Lee is producing.
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Deadline first reported that the big screen take of the 1979, King pseudonym penned Richard Bachman, novel was set up at New Line with André Øvredal directing from James Vanderbilt’s script. The rights lapsed in the summer of 2022, but also let’s not forget that New Line couldn’t pull off King’s Salem’s Lot, a movie shot for cinemas, but jettisoned to Max.
The Long Walk takes place in the future in which 100 teenage boys embark on an annual competition known as “The Long Walk.” The rules are simple: maintain a speed above 4 miles per hour. Receive three warnings in an hour and you’re shot dead. The last one walking gets whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Under these grim circumstances the boys develop deep friendships despite knowing that each of their friends’ survival is a threat to their own. The book has the spirit of other King coming-of-age stories, following boys who prevail amid hardship and despair ala the characters in Stand by Me and It.
It was recently announced that Lawrence was reteaming with Lionsgate again on the Suzanne Collins’ penned prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, based on the author’s upcoming novel.
Deadline confirmed the story which first ran on The InSneider.
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