Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’ Film Taps ‘Scary Stories to Tell’ Director

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – New Line has tapped André Øvredal to direct the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s dystopian thriller “The Long Walk.”

Øvredal’s credits include mystery thriller “The Autopsy of Jane Doe” and the upcoming horror film “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” co-written and produced by Guillermo del Toro and releasing on Aug. 9. James Vanderbilt has written the adaptation.

Producers of “The Long Walk” are Vanderbilt, Bradley Fischer and William Sherak. “The Long Walk” was originally published by King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979. He began work on it in 1966 while he was a student at the University of Maine.

The novel is set in the near future and centers on 100 teenage boys embarking on an annual competition known as “The Long Walk,” during which participants must maintain a walking speed above four miles per hour. If they receive three warnings in an hour, they are shot dead. The last one walking gets whatever he wants for the rest of his life. The boys develop deep friendships despite knowing that each of their friends’ survival is a threat to their own.

“The Long Walk” is one of three King adaptations in the works at New Line along with “Salem’s Lot” and “It: Chapter Two,” the sequel to 2017’s global blockbuster, which became the highest-grossing horror film of all time. The sequel will open on Sept. 6.

Øvredal is repped by WME, Industry Entertainment and Adam Kaller & Duncan Hedges. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.