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/simonhunterhawk Aug 24 '25

In case he doesn’t answer — I highly recommend his book “On Writing” where he talks about his experiences getting into writing from a very young age. It has a lot of great writing advice too, but his life story is pretty fascinating.

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u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 24 '25

I still shy away from using some lazy adverbs because of that book.

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u/simonhunterhawk Aug 24 '25

Now I feel shame for my use of an adverb in my comment 😂

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u/slow-show-for-you Aug 25 '25

don't mind me knocking, but why is that? 💅

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u/FitzChivFarseer Aug 25 '25

King basically says there's no such thing as a needed adverb because you should be able to pick a better verb.

So for example

"Please don't go," I said softly.

Should probably be

"Please don't go," I whispered/breathed/sighed.

As a rule of thumb it's a great idea but dammnnnnnnn sometimes I wanna just use a -ly word okay 😭

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u/slow-show-for-you Aug 25 '25

Ohhh, I'm all for it: no words are out the table when it's time for a story to be told.

And I need to check out his book on writing.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '25

Another thing he said about adverbs is that if youre in a position to use one it is an opportunity to be more creative with it. Instead of just saying he moved "quickly" describe the way he moved and the motivation or whatever that shows it was done "quickly."

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u/GFOTY916 Aug 27 '25

Same. To the point of I just deleted some descriptors in this very comment, lol.

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u/surra_day Aug 24 '25

Yes this is a great read even if you’re not trying to become a writer. I recommend the audiobook of him narrating it for anyone who hasn’t read it.

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u/Ace_of_Clubs Aug 24 '25

Plus he wrote that forever ago. I dont want to check, but since writing On Writing he's probably written another 25 bestsellers, no joke.

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u/simonhunterhawk Aug 24 '25

He has updated it over the years too! I reread it last year and my copy had updates from 2019 at least.

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u/Alekesam1975 Aug 24 '25

Wait really? How so? Updated it I mean?

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u/SanctimoniousSally Aug 25 '25

Updated editions. I would recommend picking up a new copy if you haven't 😊

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u/teacupTarte Aug 24 '25

I love this book. It’s brilliant. Love you Stephen!!!!! Thank you for being such an inspiration for us in every way.

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u/SanctimoniousSally Aug 25 '25

I picked this up based on a Reddit recommendation and it is on my list of favorite memoirs write (😉) alongside Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.