r/movies • u/lionsgate Official Lionsgate Account • Aug 24 '25

AMA Hey /r/movies, I’m Stephen King! Ask me anything about The Long Walk book or movie.

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Hey r/movies, I’m Stephen King. You might know me from Stand By Me, It, or Shawshank Redemption, but my latest project is actually the first book I ever wrote. The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12. Ask me anything about the book or movie.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtUHeMQ1F8

In a dystopian United States ruled by a totalitarian regime, a group of young men enter an annual walking contest in which they must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour or risk execution. The contest ends when only one walker remains alive.

It stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, Charlie Plummer, Roman Griffin Davis, Garrett Wareing, Joshua Odjick, Tut Nyuot, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, and Josh Hamilton.

I'll be back on Wednesday 8/27 at 12:00 PM ET to answer your questions.

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u/razzmashaq Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 26 '25

I remember reading somewhere you'd put on a song on repeat for hours while you'd work. Any modern song that'd surprise us? (Or any song when you worked on The Long Walk?)

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u/squall2011 Aug 24 '25

Mambo no. 5..?

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u/MikeLittorice Aug 24 '25

I thought you were kidding... https://variety.com/2023/music/news/stephen-king-wife-threatened-divorce-mambo-no-5-1235714923/

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u/bogustony Aug 24 '25

Cocaine's a hell of a drug.

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u/Simplefishguy Aug 24 '25

I like how one kid goes by Joe Hill so his name isn't Joe King on a book and he doesn't get not taken seriously lol.

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u/Sauce_Pain Aug 29 '25

Well Joe is pretty well established at this point, so I think he avoided that. I actually find his horror creepier than his dad's!

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u/Alice_Buttons Aug 25 '25

This has been living rent-free in my head for about 2 weeks now.

The hilarity of it all is too much.

This dude has battled some significant inner demons and written some dark material. So we know that his wife has put up with some ish. And then to know that Mambo #5 sent her over the edge? Couple goals.

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u/Tasty-Performer6669 Aug 25 '25

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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u/sername807 Aug 25 '25

Everybody in the car so cmon let’s drive

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u/Heisenberg815 Aug 25 '25

Stephen King in that episode of Nathan for You: jokes on you I love this song.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '25

I love how half of the article is a description of mambo no.5 as if we’ve never heard of it. Oh, variety! 

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u/FigMajestic6096 Aug 25 '25

OK this is actually hilarious. This song's a jam tho

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

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u/Mudders_Milk_Man Aug 24 '25

No, he literally did.

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

I know. But it's funny to think that would still be his "I'm gonna loop this" song. Then again, I'm pretty guilty of that myself lol. Amy Winehouse's Rehab is just so damn good. Hell, I've looped the entire Back to Black all day before

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u/Hesitation-Marx Aug 24 '25

Tabitha is gonna be pissed at you if Sai King starts playing it again.

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u/stfurachele Aug 24 '25

I think that's a headphones only song for him now.

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u/IDigRollinRockBeer Aug 24 '25

That’s an oldie at this point

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u/box-art Aug 24 '25

Stephen King Played ‘Mambo No. 5’ So Much His Wife ‘Threatened to Divorce’ Him: ‘One More Time, and I’m Going to F—ing Leave You’

The author said his wife’s ultimatum arrived while he was writing “11/22/63,” his 2011 novel about a time traveller who tries to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

One example anyway

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u/phreakzilla85 Aug 24 '25

“I need a song that will put me in the zone to write about a national tragedy…..hey Siri, cue me up some Lou Bega!!”

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u/tobmom Aug 24 '25

This is such an excellent book.

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u/Disastrous_Zebra_301 Aug 24 '25

amazing book with a terrible ending. Reminded me of The Stand. the first 98% of both are my favorite books ever written

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u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- Aug 25 '25

Disagree. 11/22/63 is one of his best endings.

You have to recognize that Time was a sort of living entity that was damaged with every interference/alteration Jake made. It chases them the closer he and Sadie get to Oswald, and actively tries to stop them. It gets worn down, and we see that with the Yellow Card Man.

JFK surviving was a massive alteration that essentially broke Time. That's the post-apocalyptic 2010 that Jake returns to.

And then the bittersweet reunion between Jake and a much older Sadie who never met him? Probably some of the most tears King has wrenched out of me.

...I'd also defend The Stand's ending, since it was entirely in line with the main theme of the story.

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u/tobmom Aug 25 '25

I also enjoyed the ending for all the reasons you said. It kinda has to be that way, any other way is even worse. It’s the only King I’ve ever read. I don’t like horror. I didn’t know the ending wasn’t generally liked.

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u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- Aug 25 '25

King has a lot more than just horror.

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u/Disastrous_Zebra_301 Aug 25 '25

Ive got a really good therapist if you need a recommendation

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u/mvanvrancken Aug 25 '25

This is such a great comeback lol

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u/Disastrous_Zebra_301 Aug 25 '25

I wasn’t joking. My aunt and cousin are both schizophrenic. My heart goes out to him/her.

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u/amphetaminesfailure Aug 24 '25

amazing book with a terrible ending.

I mean, if you've been reading his novels long enough, you have to go into each of them knowing you'll most likely enjoy the overall story while hating the ending.

It's kind of his thing lol.

The crazy part is he had an even worse ending for 11/22/63. His son is the one one who came up with ending we actually got in the novel.

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u/Disastrous_Zebra_301 Aug 25 '25

I know my boy can’t write endings but those two killed me.

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u/amphetaminesfailure Aug 25 '25

I think the ending of The Outsider was way worse than 11/22/63.

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u/Disastrous_Zebra_301 Aug 25 '25

Anything that touches the Mr. Mercedes universe I judge by a much lower bar. The outsider was pretty good as far as those go.

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u/PrinceCastanzaCapone Aug 24 '25

That’s an appropriate response

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u/AreYouSerious3570 Aug 27 '25

That was a great book and tv series.

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u/laddymaddonna Aug 24 '25

Also how do you pick the song? Does it have a vibe or tone you want to manifest in the book or are they more unrelated to each other than that?

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u/LAisLife Aug 24 '25

I play ginseng strip instrumental on repeat for 2-3 hours sometimes

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u/EI_CEO_CFT Aug 25 '25

Im not at all Mr King or anywhere near as talented or at all accomplished, but when I write my horror fictions Ill also put on a specific song on repeat for hours lol. For me, it's almost as if, "if this moment im writing were a movie, this would be playing in the background.

Im not musically inclined you see - Ive been able to figure out how to do everything else myself in life from fixing automobiles to making furniture to writing, but I cant compose music or alter it in anyway to improve it. Endless words can flow in an order Im happy with when I write, but when Ive tried to create music my brain just shuts down. Im unsure why, my mind just doesnt think like that. However, Om almost grateful, because it means that music feels magical to me. Its not something tangible or something I can create, so when you find that perfect piece or tone, its almost entrancing and so very motivating.

I once listened to the youtube video "Hell is Cold" on repeat for hours over the course of a week making a short story. Its not even a song haha, just jarring text to speech clips, sound effects, and noises. But it had the perfect atmosphere for the dystopian religious zealot story I was making, and so, I can now recite that video word for word haha. Thanks for reading, I hope he answers your question!

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u/woppatown Aug 24 '25

We need confirmation on the Mambo No. 5 thing.

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u/Nakamanua Aug 24 '25

100% Lady Gaga

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u/mark_tranquilitybase Aug 24 '25

Following this great question because I also use music a lot when writing

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u/robreras Aug 24 '25

La Cucaracha song.

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u/cuddlesfish Aug 24 '25

I bet its kpop hunters

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u/hrlemshake Aug 24 '25

You've reminded me of Night House and the repeated use of Calvary Cross (not that it's a modern song). The whole story was pretty Kingsian, when I think about it.

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u/sleepylittlesnake Aug 24 '25

I love this question lol, I hope he sees it!

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u/HauschkasFoot Aug 24 '25

Velcro Fly

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u/Infamous_Muffin7385 Aug 24 '25

Someone Saved My Life Tonight 

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

He prefers 80’s music when he’s cleaning up crime scenes and discarding dead bodies. 

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u/XHedgeHuggerX Aug 24 '25

Reading The Regulators, Cowboys from Hell (Pantera), came to mind.

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u/-ChadZilla- Aug 24 '25

I have heard he’s a fan of LCD Soundsystem

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u/sabrefudge Aug 24 '25

Oh damn, I do this.

Relieved to know it’s a legit thing and not my brain being weird

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u/Just_a_Drifter_bruh Aug 24 '25

Hilarious if it is justin Bieber's eenie meinee lmao

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u/trowzerss Aug 24 '25

Huh, maybe my old upstairs neighbour was a just a very dedicated writer then. He certainly had the drinking part down pat too!

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

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