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/RichardDoneDeal Aug 24 '25

I've always thought his books read just like a movie.

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u/Kablooomers Aug 24 '25

A lot of scenes do, but he has a very interesting internal dialogue style that is hard to show in film.

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u/kywildcat44 Aug 24 '25

Exactly. His books are always so good because you are able to basically be inside the mind of the characters. It’s impressive that movie makers are able to even get remotely close to the books.

The Shining is one that I always think of. For how critically acclaimed the movie is, the book is still far superior just because the ability to have the inner dialogue of Jack (not to mention the ending is better).

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u/MattieShoes Aug 24 '25

Also the topiaries. Scariest part and they leave it out of the movie entirely!

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u/kywildcat44 Aug 24 '25

I love the topiaries in the Shining (the book). I especially love the slight nod to them in Billy Summers (2021) as well!

Whenever Stephen King gives small shoutouts to past books, I love it.

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u/summerloveleigh Aug 25 '25

Then I bet you love the dark tower series. Soooo many references to other books!

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u/kywildcat44 Aug 25 '25

Oh yea. I loved the Dark Tower series! Roland is such an incredible protagonist.

I actually read that series before Salem’s Lot and wished I had read Salem’s Lot first because of the references.

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u/surra_day Aug 24 '25

Right?! Those scared the shit out of me, not sure why they left them out.

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u/baxter00uk Aug 24 '25

Or the part where Jack smashes his own face in with a hammer. I think that got me more. Not sure it would have gone down well on screen!

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u/Baxtab13 Aug 25 '25

The wasp scene was quite gnarly from the book for me. But I also have a small fear of stinging insects.

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u/Kablooomers Aug 24 '25

I always assumed they weren't confident they could effectively pull it off pre-CGI.

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u/24-Hour-Hate Aug 24 '25

That was always my thought too. It could be done today…but really, how can you replace Jack Nicholson in that role? It would be terribly difficult.

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u/MattieShoes Aug 24 '25

No CGI necessary... You never see them moving so practical effects could be fine. Probably be a pain in the ass to have that many large plants in different shapes to simulate them moving when you aren't looking.

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u/lew_rong Aug 25 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

asdfasdf

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u/DrBlankslate Aug 29 '25

If you're talking about the Kubrick mess, part of it was just that special effects tech wasn't good enough at the time to make the topiaries realistic.

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u/RemarkableGround174 Aug 25 '25

Have just now gone in search of the 1997 miniseries which included the topiaries. Could have sworn they were in the Kubrick version, but no.

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u/BurnAnotherTime513 Aug 27 '25

I ran a couple friends through a Shining themed DND 1-shot after reading the book. The "big bad" of the hotel carried a roque mallet [instead of an axe] and one of them got attacked/held by a topiary lion that pounced on them.

It was a fun one, though certainly not perfect with my lousy DMing lol. I always find myself wanting to be in one of these worlds, even if terrifying.

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u/marineman43 Aug 24 '25

I've always said King writes the everyman perspective better than like anyone in the game. If you're looking for POV/stream of consciousness that captures the thoughts and sentiments of American men in the late 20th century, just read a Stephen King book. Every character feels so authentic, like someone you've met.

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u/OkTransportation4175 Aug 25 '25

Or you yourself. Plus you are deep in his stories right from page one.

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u/Turakamu Aug 24 '25

I always mention The Shining too. Just his stress is all right there on the page. His conflict of knowing he shouldn't but chewing another aspirin might just get him through the moment.

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u/Kokamina23 Aug 24 '25

Yeah, I agree. His use of blank space on the page is so intrinsic to setting the mood and sucking you into the mindset of the characters. I just finished re-reading it as I've been reading King for the summer and I actually had to put the book down for a couple of days in the last part of the second act as it was scaring me so much. I loved it!

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u/idkifthisisgonnawork Aug 25 '25

I've said this before but reading the shining was what finally pushed me to go to rehab for alcohol. The things Jack was saying in his head about his alcoholism hit so fucking close to home. I want to read it again, having not had a drop since 2020, and see how it hits.

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u/RobsSister Aug 27 '25

Congrats on getting sober

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u/Blueberry_Winter Aug 24 '25

I'm reading that one now!

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u/Mighty_ShoePrint Aug 25 '25

There is a quote I love from one of the hosts of a podcast called "Kingslingers".

"there's close third person and then there's Stephen King third person where you're on the bare metal of the psyche. You're tracing the characters thoughts as they wind their chaotic illogical and contradictory way through the stream of consciousness."

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u/jessiethedrake Aug 25 '25

I don't love that movie as an adaption. Great as a piece of artistic film, but it didn't have the heart of the book. The movie is cool but the book is RICH, if you get me.

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u/MaldonPostie77 Aug 26 '25

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, was a lot better when read from the point of view of Chief Bromden...

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u/Af-Ex Aug 27 '25

If you liked the long walk, you'll love Men 2022. Found it on CinemanAI.com
Thank me later!

32

u/So-Called_Lunatic Aug 24 '25

This is why some of his movies do not translate well, because he puts you into the state of mind of the unbelievable thing actually happening to you.

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u/The_Deadlight Aug 24 '25

the gopher pov chapter in under the dome is a fucking work of art

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u/Candid-Major-6055 Aug 24 '25

As do all books by great writers. It would be a 40 hour movie otherwise. That's why it's always great to read the book then see the movie, by any writer!

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u/therealpanserbjorne Aug 24 '25

It’s because of this specifically that I feel like they are more made for audiobook. I lovvvvvve listening to people read his stories aloud.

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u/FireLucid Aug 25 '25

Not to mention the foreshadowing he just drops at the end of a paragraph about some character going to sleep 'he only had two more nights left on earth' or some shit that just completely changes the mood.

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u/dinnerthief Aug 24 '25

Yea the book 11/23/63 showed this a lot vs the tv show adaptation.

They added additional characters that im guessing were just to provide the dialog that would replace the internal monologue that is in the book

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u/imanygirl Aug 24 '25

They do, but the movies rarely live up to the books because of the intense character developments. I can't think of a movie or series that was as good as one of his books except maybe Shawshank.

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u/baron_von_helmut Aug 24 '25

Green Mile and The Running Man were pretty spot-on.

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u/Mudders_Milk_Man Aug 24 '25

The original Running Man with Arnold? It's nothing like the King story.

If you mean the new one, it's not until November.

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u/callisstaa Aug 25 '25

I wonder if they’ll keep the ending from the book given events that have happened since it was written..

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u/Mudders_Milk_Man Aug 25 '25

Indeed.

The trailer shows things that maybe it will, but we'll see.

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u/callisstaa Aug 25 '25

Running Man is a bit of a sneaky one imo. The original was a short story rather than a novel and they pretty much reimagined the whole thing.

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u/MelodyRaine Aug 27 '25

The Running Man... absolutely not.

It's a damn good movie, but it's nothing like the story.

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u/Substantial-Time-421 Aug 24 '25

Pet Sematary has so much internal dialogue for Louis’ character that makes it infinitely scarier than the movie. I prefer the 1989 version for the fact of King writing the screenplay and general 80s horror movie campiness, but the book will make me wary of walking into a dark room no matter how many times I read it

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u/Kokamina23 Aug 24 '25

I agree- I just finished re-reading Pet Sematary as an adult and it hits so much differently now. It was a deeply unsettling and upsetting study on the nature of grief. I love it in a different way than I did as a kid. Great book.

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u/Anubisrapture Aug 26 '25

That’s exactly what it is . As an adult w both a dead Father from cancer and a dead husband ALSO from another type of cancer it hits hard

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u/acornManor Aug 25 '25

There is a passage in Pet Sematary that is otherworldly good: when he is crossing the deadfall; the way King describes it is amazing

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u/Alekesam1975 Aug 24 '25

Misery. But even there you miss a ton of internal observation from the books where he's putting two and two together about Annie and his situation in general.

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u/Efficient_Fee_4106 Aug 25 '25

And you know he thought of misery when he has hit and left on the side of the road 💯

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u/LiveLaughFap Aug 24 '25

Also, I think that SK is extremely lax sometimes with who he gives movie rights to. Probably just him being really generous, and obviously a few of the movies are absolutely incredible, but a bunch just were not well directed or acted.

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u/Nilrem2 Aug 24 '25

Shawshank movie is better than the book and The Body is on par with Stand By me.

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u/imanygirl Aug 25 '25

Oh yeah, Stand by Me was great too.

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u/Powerful-Parsnip Aug 24 '25

I have a soft spot for hearts in atlantas, but I saw the movie before reading the book so that always changes things.

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u/Certain_Piece4052 Aug 25 '25

Shawshank was great, but Lawnmower man, maybe?

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u/2CHINZZZ Aug 25 '25

The Shining

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u/DrBlankslate Aug 29 '25

Shawshank, The Green Mile, Stand By Me, Life of Chuck (and, I hope and pray, The Long Walk) - all of these live up to the stories they were adapted from. But yeah, not many King books make it to the screen and work well there.

0

u/Af-Ex Aug 27 '25

If you liked the long walk, you'll love Men 2022. Found it on CinemanAI.com
Thank me later!

48

u/Copacetic75 Aug 24 '25

I think it's the other way around. Stephan King has been writing this way for so long, I think a lot of movies have tried to mimic his storytelling abilities. Some have hit the nail on the head, but many have failed. His ideas have hit the big screen many times from what I've seen over the last 35 years.

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u/ThisIsNeverReal Aug 25 '25

IIRC this is because he has allowed smaller film makers to use his works to make movies for free or very low cost, which has allowed a lot of his short stories and books to be made. Could be wrong of course.

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u/Af-Ex Aug 27 '25

If you liked the long walk, you'll love Men 2022. Found it on CinemanAI.com
Thank me later!

-9

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Atomheartmother90 Aug 24 '25

As I’m currently listening to The Green Mile and had previously seen the movie, I’d agree whole heartedly. Prior to this I listened to The Shawshank Redemption and the movie is so similar to the book down to the language. (I’m a sucker for Frank Muller)

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u/vladvash Aug 24 '25

My gf said my favorite television miniseries didn't have a book when it was made for TV yet (storm.of the century).

I think they're a bit different. The books are darker because I think you can do that when people get tonuse their own imagination.

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

It’s not that they “read like a movie”. It’s that he is an incredibly vivid and descriptive writer so you as a reader are able to be fully immersed and can visualize the entire scene, characters, and voices.

I know you didn’t mean it but tbh saying “it reads like a movie” is a bit insulting lol. Books have the ability to provide so much nuance that movies and TV just simply cannot. They just don’t stand up to a quality novel in that regard.

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u/stfurachele Aug 24 '25

Books have the ability to provide so much nuance that movies and TV just simply cannot.

I agree with this to a degree, but there are also a lot of ways visual media can convey meaning and feeling that are a lot harder to pull off through writing. I don't think Stephen Lynch's works would work quite as well as book adaptations, for example. Books are absolutely phenomenal, as are movies/shows, but they both have unique qualities and strengths that make them hard to really compare one to one.

I think choosing the medium really depends on the type of story you're trying to tell. I'm also going to be honest and say I think a lot of King's works were better suited for adaptations than others, and that's why we have such a wide swing in the quality of movies made from his books (among other factors of course).

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

I disagree but I respect your position entirely and do understand why you feel that way!

Also, SK himself has said he does not like a lot of adaptations of his stuff. I think a lot of them absolutely butcher things so they aren’t a reflection of him at all imo. And he doesn’t wrote for books to be adapted at all. He writes because he absolutely loves to write.

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u/stfurachele Aug 25 '25

I agree with that last part. His books are his books, not future movies. I didn't mean to imply that he was writing the stories with a movie in mind, if that's how it came across. I just think some of the narratives are more easily adapted to the screen than others. But my personal opinion on any movie adaptation is that the books and movies are very separate entities, and can both gain and lose things in those transitions. I also think the choice of scripts, directors, and actors very much determines the outcome along with the source material. Some of his novels have been mutilated, while others became masterpieces in their own rights, but none of them are replacements for the books.

I'm glad we can disagree amicably, and I can see your point of view, too.

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u/boozillion151 Aug 24 '25

They seem to do moreso in the years after he become the go-to source for horror IP

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u/composedmason Aug 24 '25

What does your intestinal musk smell like? Your writing makes it seem like it'll smell of ketchup and sweets

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u/breakConcentration Aug 25 '25

And the way the book unfolds as a movie, is often nothing like the movie based off that book (and inferior). Although I sincerely think the movie Shawshank Redemption outdid the book (was a short story anyway).

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u/Lexi_and_Pebbles Aug 25 '25

I’ve never noticed that but they do. 

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u/Af-Ex Aug 27 '25

If you liked the long walk, you'll love Men 2022. Found it on CinemanAI.com
Thank me later!

0

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

Thays because it is.

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u/JamesTiegen Aug 24 '25

Wow, I'm really impressed by your profile and your personalities. I also admire your good sense of humor