Venting time: This fall’s one-two punch of Stephen King adaptations are perhaps the most irritatingly similar movies scheduled near each other since… probably The Prestige and The Illusionist. But it’s even worse because of how much DNA they share. Aside from the fact that both are based on King books, they’re also each about televised competitions with life-or-death stakes in dystopian America, and, importantly, have movement-centric titles. This is where we’ll confess that we spent six months thinking Edgar Wright was directing The Long Walk, not Francis Lawrence (Wright’s doing The Running Man with Glen Powell in the Arnie role), and if we’re confused, we bet you are too.
One thing that’s certain is that Mark Hamill’s having a hell of a good year when it comes to King adaptations. He performs brilliantly in The Life of Chuck, and his work here is about as far away from that kind-hearted gruffness as you can get. He’s the Major, who runs the title event, in which 100 kids have to walk at a three-mile-an-hour pace down the East Coast. Go below that for too long, and they’ll get shot in the head. Lionsgate dropped a trailer for the project earlier on Wednesday, and boy does it look bleak.
Take a look:
Here’s a synopsis for The Long Walk. The book, not the movie, because this cover-flap copy is just too awesome not to share:
“THE PLACE
An ultra-conservative America of the not-too-distant future . . .
THE EVENT
The country’s #1 sports contest, a grueling 450-mile marathon walk, where a single misstep could be the last…
THE COMPETITORS
The cream of the nation’s youth, 100 red-blooded American boys out to make it to the top no matter who they trample on to get there…
THE PRIZE
A fortune in money, fame, and everything the heart desires for the one and only winner . . .
But in a flawless society there are no losers–because the New American Government knows how to bury its failures…”
God damn! Isn’t old-school copywriting the best?
Anyway, The Long Walk marches into theaters on September 12.