The Long Walk: Stephen King adaptation is set up at Lionsgate with Francis Lawrence at the helm

Earlier this week, we heard that Francis Lawrence, whose previous credits include Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2, Red Sparrow, Slumberland, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is the latest director to be attached to helm an adaptation of The Long Walk, a Stephen King novel that was published under the Richard Bachman pen name back in 1979. Now The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that The Long Walk is set up at Lionsgate, with Lawrence in “final talks” to direct. So this will be a continuation of the working relationship Lionsgate and Lawrence have had on the Hunger Game films.

Joe Drake of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group provided the following statement: “When you have enjoyed the strong creative collaboration and success that we have had working with Francis, you want to repeat that experience as much as possible. We couldn’t be more excited about reuniting with him on The Long Walk. He is a truly unparalleled talent.“

This project has been trudging through development hell for decades. At one point, the rights were in the hands of Frank Darabont, who made the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist. Then the rights passed over to New Line Cinema, where Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal was hired to direct the film from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt, whose credits include the two most recent Scream movies. While doing the press rounds for his film The Last Voyage of the Demeter earlier this year, Øvredal revealed that he was no longer involved with The Long Walk, and said not making that movie is one of the big regrets of his life.

JT Mollner (Outlaws and Angels) is now writing the screenplay adaptation for Lionsgate and Lawrence. The film is being produced by Roy Lee, who was also behind the recent movies based on King’s novel It.

The Long Walk is set in a future dystopian America ruled over by a militaristic dictator, and the titular event is an annual contest in which 100 teenagers must keep a steady pace of at least four miles an hour under strict rules until only one of them is left alive. The winner receives “The Prize”: anything they want for the rest of their life. The story follows Raymond Garraty, a 16-year-old from Pownal, Maine, as well as a group of other teenagers with good, bad, and mysterious intentions.

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