No one chooses “The Long Walk.” Not really. That’s the key to surviving Stephen King’s cult-hit horror novel from 1979 — about a fascist American government and a group of teen boys who supposedly “volunteer” for its lethal endurance test.
Published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, more than a decade after King cracked the concept, “The Long Walk” is technically the first book from the legendary author. King wrote it when he was just 19 years old and still a student at the University of Maine. But the wisdom he gave his characters back then might explain some of the success he has now.
“None of us really has anything to lose. That makes it easier to give away.”
“If people took it one day at a time, they’d be a lot happier.”
“Pick ’em up. Put ’em down. Just keep walking down the road.”
I’ve been quoting advice from “The Long Walk” since I was younger than Bachman, but the core genius of King’s first novel didn’t fully sink in for me until I saw Lionsgate’s terrifying new film adaptation in theaters. Marching more than five miles… with over a dozen strangers… in the dark(!!), I couldn’t tell if the immersive workout chose me — or if I chose it.
Yes, I was one of the lucky few who got to see “The Long Walk” early, on a treadmill.
“The emotion is the hard part,” said Briana McElroy, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group’s head of worldwide digital marketing, to IndieWire. “We wanted audiences to put themselves in these characters’ shoes, and watching people connect with that idea has been so, so exciting.”
Inside the historic Culver Theater in Los Angeles over Labor Day weekend, seats were swapped for orange exercise equipment and actors stepped in as drill sergeants. Not unlike the rules of the death game we were simulating, our commanders’ directives were deceptively simple. Maintain a speed of three miles per hour and you can finish the movie. But fall below that threshold for even a second? That’s game over and you will get kicked out.
“This movie is such a physically and emotionally compelling proposition,” said McElroy. “That’s really where the heart of this idea came from, and seeing the incredible reaction people have had to it online makes us even more excited about the release.”
Directed by Francis Lawrence (“The Hunger Games”) and written by JT Mollner (“Strange Darling”), Lionsgate’s shocking new horror movie opens in theaters nationwide on September 12, but the exercise gimmick won’t expand with it. If you’re still trying to see “The Long Walk” early — and you’re in the Los Angeles area tonight — then you should join me and actress Judy Greer for IndieWire’s special advanced screening and Q&A.
We’ll be at the AMC Century City on Thursday, September 4 at 7 p.m. Request an invite for IndieWire’s special early screening of “The Long Walk” here.
Sadly, the midnight movie magic that befell me and my Long Treadmill compatriots will be gone from our city by then. Turns out, you can rent lightweight treadmills that are remarkably easy to move, and they can be set at a fixed speed. Strategizing before the event, I knew we’d cover about five miles if we didn’t go faster than we had to. In the end, we were forced to finish the hour and 48 minutes at a pace that technically kept us “together” the entire walk.
But seeing the boys’ distance climb on screen, I almost forgot our race entirely.
“I was watching from the wings and I was feeling the emotion too,” said McElroy. “I was very impressed with everybody and their stamina. Like, I’m crying, my eyes are blurry, and I just can’t imagine walking through it. The idea of what these boys went through in the book, the relationships they formed and tested by trying to win, then joining them in that by treating the stakes as 100 percent real in a theater, that just means everything to us.”
Since the dawn of smartphones, cinephiles have been complaining about second-screeners who can’t seem to sit through a film — but chasing after one like it’s the only carrot in an equestrian apocalypse could be a solution that actually works. I’m notoriously fidgety myself, and when I’m not taking notes for an article or a review, I like to knit in theaters so I have something to do with my hands that’s silent. Gyms can be loud, and heading into what was actually my second viewing of “The Long Walk” (more on that later), I was concerned the “whirr-whirr-whirr” of the treadmills might drown out the fear and misery on screen.
In reality, the propulsive noise snapped us to attention and it seemed to subtly push the movie forward. This was an influencer event, so, yes, attendees were using their phones. But even capturing content for social media, “The Long Walk” held everyone’s attention. Our drill sergeants struggled to keep on their aviators inside the dark theater, and although they were very attentive about giving us water, the live performers seemed just as captivated by the film as they were with managing the game and its participants.
“The first reaction people have is wondering if they can handle it, physically,” said McElroy. “But the tech check was the second-most harrowing experience I’ve had today.”
Shortly before the screening (mine was one of three that took place inside Auditorium 11, Culver Theater’s most flexible event space), I introduced myself to a few other folks who were standing around. Our thespian captors mostly mean-mugged me, but I had an “Allie” to my left and a “Christine” to my right who were warm, friendly, and willing to chat.
When that Allie stumbled and nearly fell during the film’s first 20 minutes, this Ali panicked thinking her new friend might get kicked out. Instead, the instructors showed the Other Allie mercy (possibly because they didn’t see the incident until it was too late to fix?), and she got the day’s one and only warning.
Everyone made it to the end, and that’s a testament to the format. But even without the hassle of Lionsgate founding a national gym/theater chain (a hybrid movie palace called something like but not exactly… Cinematic Soul Cycle?), the singular experience the studio gave us so-called “volunteers” tells you why “The Long Walk” feels like mandatory viewing for so many serious Stephen King fans in 2025.
In the movie, No. 47 Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) grapples with the consequences of putting his name in a lottery mandated by a government that’s only claiming to give him a choice. He’s flanked by friends as well as foes — No. 23 Peter McVries (David Jonsson), No. 38 known only as “Stebbins” (Garret Wareing), No. 46 Hank Olson (Ben Wang), No. 48 Collie Parker (Joshua Odjick), No. 6 Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot), and more. We meet Ray in a sea of hopeless competitors succumbing to a capitalist rat race that has no real winners. In an attempt to hang onto my own identity, I wore Doc Martens instead of sneakers.
Lionsgate could have a full-on fascist field day explaining why Mark Hamill was the right choice to play the General for “The Long Walk.” Star Wars devotees, who have more thoughts on the 73-year-old actor than I can even fake, know all too well that epic adventures can make powerful metaphors for authoritarianism. But death games tell you how they end by design, and the last man standing in the movie is a far cry from Luke Skywalker.
Disturbing and graphic moments pepper “The Long Walk” like buckshot, and as the going got tougher for Ray and his pals, I had a harder and harder time managing my own balance. The treadmill was narrow. My shoes had made me cocky. And still, the torture pressed on. I almost paid the price during what I consider to be the most emotional scene in the movie, when my glasses flew off but I continued to walk and cry in place. The friendliest jailer of the bunch grabbed them from the floor for me, and the Other Allie leaned in carefully from her treadmill to ask if I was OK.
Afterwards, I told some people I was embarrassed to have faltered because I’d seen the film before. There’s a slew of reasons I couldn’t review “The Long Walk” for IndieWire. For starters, I’ve loved this book since I was a teenager — and as far as screenwriters go, I’m convinced JT Mollner can do no wrong. I also come from a family of batshit insane long-distance runners, and these days, if you talk to me at a bar anytime past 9 p.m., I’ve got more to say about politics than you would like to hear.
But what’s the main reason someone else at IndieWire will be critiquing “The Long Walk”? Because I attended a test screening of the movie this spring, and in my written feedback, I suggested the very treadmill idea the studio later brought to life for zany King fans like me.
“Dream factory occasionally does make dreams,” said TIFF midnight programmer Peter Kuplowsky, when I DM’d him about the unforgettable event in an overjoyed frenzy.
Early buzz for the adaptation is strong, and the online reaction to the treadmill activation has been quietly extraordinary to watch. Standing or sitting, this is my favorite horror movie of the year (so far!) and I’m excited to get back on the trail with a third screening soon. Exiting the auditorium, seriously questioning the Docs decision, another “Long Walk” line came to mind.
“‘FUCK THE LONG WALK,’” I joked to one of my favorite publicists, No. 1 Alfonso Ardon.
Taking on a small rebellion in the middle of a fight for their lives, the boys use that rallying cry to get through the middle slump of their grueling journey. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the film, and while I’m very happy with the free swag I got at the treadmill screening, I mentioned to Alfonso how great I thought that would be on a t-shirt. The only race to resolve now? Whether I choose to make one… or Lionsgate beats me to it.
“The Long Walk” is in theaters September 12. See it early with IndieWire on September 4.
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