Stephen Kingbookshave been adapted for decades, and this year is a particularly strong year for the author. Things kicked off with Osgood Perkins' adaptation ofThe Monkey, which was released to positive reviews in February. Next month will also see therelease ofThe Life of Chuck, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. The continued adaptation of King’s work shows just how influential the author is, as his work remains timely and relevant.
One of this year’s King adaptations is the dystopian movieThe Long Walk. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the movie tells the story of a group of teenage boys who participate in a yearly televised competition where they must maintain a certain continuous walking speed or risk being eliminated. The movie isset for release on July 27, 2025, and features Ben Wang, Mark Hamill, Garrett Wareing, Judy Greer, David Jonsson, and Cooper Hoffman. The original book also inspired a subsequent dystopian novel and film, which is a good one to check out beforeThe Long Walk.
How Battle Royale Is Indebted To Stephen King’s The Long Walk Book
Battle Royale’s Narrative Has Similar Elements
The book and movieBattle Royaleare highly influenced byKing’sThe Long Walk, making it an interesting film to catch up on before the upcoming adaptation.Battle Royalewas originally a Japanese novel by Koushun Takami published in 1999. The book is about a group of junior high school students in Japan who are made to fight each other to death in a program run by a fictionalized totalitarian version of the government. It was later adapted into the 2000 movie of the same name.
The narrative overlap betweenBattle RoyaleandThe Long Walkis clear. Both center around the young, teenage victims of overly controlling government regimes who have to participate in some type of “last one standing” event.The Long Walkprovides a fascist imagining of the American government, whileBattle Royalefocuses on a similar environment, but in Japan. Sources such asPolygonhave confirmed that Takami took inspiration from King’s writing, further showing the connection between the stories.
In more recent years,Battle Royalehas re-entered the cultural zeitgeist due to comparisons between it andThe Hunger Games. This link is even more direct, as Suzanne Collins' novels and subsequent movie adaptations also see teenagers fight to the death. But in reality, theroots of the dystopian story stem back to King, from the first novel he ever wrote. This comparison makesBattle Royalean interesting film to watch beforeThe Long Walkis released this fall.
The Long Walk Will Inevitably Face Battle Royale & Hunger Games Comparisons
And This Is A Tough Standard To Meet
Even thoughThe Long Walkwas the first book to be published,the movie adaptations ofBattle RoyaleandThe Hunger Gameshave already been made.As such, theKing movie adaptationis sure to get compared to both of these previous works. This sets the bar high forThe Long Walk, as both of the other dystopian YA movies were well-received critically.The Hunger Gamesmovies also did incredibly well at the box office and had a relatively recent adaptation withThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesin 2023.
AnotherHunger Gamesmovie is coming out in November 2026, withSunrise on the Reaping,which will be directed by Francis Lawrence.
TheHunger Gamescomparisons will also be further heightened because of one key connecting thread: director Francis Lawrence.Lawrence is helmingThe Long Walkmovie, but he also stepped in for four of the fiveHunger Gamesfilms, beginning withCatching Firein 2013. This will make critics more apt to compare the movies' styles, merits, and pitfalls from a filmmaking standpoint, increasing the comparative discourse.
The Long Walk Isn’t 2025’s Only Dystopian Stephen King Movie
The Running Man Is Also Coming Out This Year
Interestingly,The Long Walkis not the only dystopian King project coming out this year.2025 will also see therelease of Edgar Wright’s version ofThe Running Man, which is about a man who joins a game show where contestants try to evade hunters who are hired to kill them. UnlikeThe Long Walk, this book has previously been adapted, as Paul Michael Glaser released an adaptation of the story back in 1987. The 2025 version features Glen Powell, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, Kate O’Brian, and Jayme Lawson.
The production ofThe Running Manmakes 2025 a truly exciting year for King adaptations. The author is best known for horror, and while both this andThe Long Walkcertainly have horrific elements, they fall more into the sci-fi dystopia category genre-wise. This will create interesting variety in the King oeuvre, and spawn fascinating discourses asThe Long Walkgets compared to the content that it inspired.
