Francis Lawrence had already cast his younger leads for his upcoming Stephen King adaptation, “The Long Walk,” but now he’s added a couple of veteran actors to his ensemble. Deadline reports that Judy Greer and Mark Hamill are the latest to join the dystopian thriller, about an annual event in which 100 teenage boys walk nonstop to their deaths until one remains standing.
No official news on who Greer and Hamill will play in “The Long Walk,” but fans of King’s 1979 novel may have some ideas. Given his age, Hamill may be perfect to play the Major, the secret police leader who oversees the titular event. But that’s pure speculation at this point. Greer and Hamill join previously announced leads Cooper Hoffman and David Jonnson in the film. Others in the ensemble include Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, and Roman Griffith Davis.
King fans have clamored for someone to adapt “The Long Walk” for a long time. The prolific author originally published the novel in 1979 under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, although he first started writing it as a college student in the late ’60s. As noted earlier, the novel centers aronud an annual competition where young men walk faster than three miles per hour or risk being elimainated — being shot dead after three warnings. The last boy standing wins. Like all of King’s “Bachman books,” “The Long Walk” is a grim, unforgiving narrative that easily earned its cult status upon release. But its grueling nature is also why it took so long for a studio to greenlight it into a movie; whether this one finds an audience remains to be seen.
Still, with “The Hunger Games” vet Lawrence behind the camera, Lionsgate could have the makings of a winner here (but let’s see how faithful they are to the source material). Lawrence directs a script by JT Mollner, and also produces the film through his about:blank banner with Roy Lee and MacConomy. Steven Schneider also produces the project. Meredith Wieck and Erin Jones-Wsley oversee the film for Lionsgate. Lawrence is already shooting “The Long Walk” in Canada, so expect it to get a release next year.
Greer’s recent work includes David Gordon Green‘s recent “Halloween” trilogy (the first two installments, anyway), “White House Plumbers,” “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3,” and the Hulu series “Reboot.” She just wrapped shooting the action thriller “Fisherwoman” with Emma Thompson.
As for Hamill, he stars next in another King adaptation: Mike Flanagan‘s “The Life Of Chuck,” which has its world premiere this Fall at TIFF. He’ll also do voice work in Universal‘s “The Wild Robot,” in theaters this September. Other recent voice work for Hamill includes “Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Part Three” as the Joker, and the English dub for Hayao Miyazaki‘s “The Boy And The Heron.”
As noted earlier, expect “The Long Walk” out sometime next year. And expect it to be a breakout for the young Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Jonsson; you read it here first.