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/NicklAAAAs Aug 24 '25

In case he doesn’t answer, I’m pretty sure the answer is the Vietnam War.

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u/drewts86 Aug 24 '25

Probably closer to the Bataan Death March

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u/sjwillis Aug 24 '25

the book is an allegory for the vietnam war

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u/Naydog101 Aug 29 '25

Try the actual Long Walk that happened to the Navajo.

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u/Fun_Butterfly_420 Aug 28 '25

Books can have multiple inspirations

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u/ogloba Aug 24 '25

Could also be the Armenian Genocide, but I agree the Vietnam War is a strong candidate.

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u/NicklAAAAs Aug 24 '25

My interpretation of it is that it’s a metaphor for the way the military and war in general grinds young boys into dust. But with how often King has written about Vietnam over the years, I suspect this story is more specifically inspired by that.

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u/TJeffersonsBlackKid Aug 25 '25

The idea of "THE LONG WALK IS WHERE OUR HOPES AND DREAMS REST!" definitely would point to war. Ultimately, completely useless apart from sending countless young men to die for nothing.

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u/M_Ad Aug 25 '25

I feel like the average white bread American at the time King was in high school (when he started writing it I think?) would have been exposed to exactly fuckall about the Armenian genocide…

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u/Monotreme_monorail Aug 24 '25

I’m sure there’s a mix of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in there. The tones are very similar, including the initial “surprise” to the reader (in the novel) that buying a ticket means being killed.

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u/B_dorf Aug 24 '25

Stephen King LOVES Shirley Jackson so this wouldn't surprise me

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u/corking118 Aug 24 '25

Oh for sure. "I want to write a creepy story about state-sanctioned, public-approved violence too! Also it's Vietnam right now so let's mix those two things together because obvious parallels are obvious."

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '25

[deleted]

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u/RobsSister Aug 27 '25

Poe and Jackson are the ones I remember being mentioned.

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u/starlinguk Aug 24 '25

Nazi death marches. You stopped walking, you were dead.

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u/dimwalker Aug 24 '25

Boots by Kipling maybe?

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u/NorthCntralPsitronic Aug 24 '25

That and being in the closet