Stephen King's dystopian "The Long Walk" releases tense trailer

Written by King when he was still in high school and published in 1979 under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, "The Long Walk" imagines a bleak future where teenage boys are forced into a government-run endurance test. The rules are simple and horrifying: keep walking at a steady pace or get shot. No breaks, no finish line—just one survivor. 

In the film, Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, leads the cast as Raymond Garraty. Hoffman, still carving out the early days of his acting career after popping in his debut "Licorice Pizza." He was part of a large ensemble in "Saturday Night," and "Old Guy" didn't prove to be a movie that grabbed a large audience. Perhaps "The Long Walk" will be the one?

Presiding over this nightmare is Mark Hamill, trading in his Jedi robes for something much colder as “The Major.”  At CinemaCon, Hamill summed up the appeal: “If you can’t be the hero, there’s nothing better than being the villain.” And judging by the trailer, he’s nailing it.

Director Francis Lawrence knows his way around dystopias—he directed four Hunger Games films, after all. But The Long Walk is a different beast. There’s no rebellion here, no grand spectacle. It’s quiet, brutal, and deeply psychological. Lawrence has said he was drawn to the story because it forces you to imagine yourself in the boys’ shoes. Spoiler: you wouldn’t last long.

So if you’re into bleak, thought-provoking thrillers with just enough horror to unsettle your sleep, The Long Walk might be the King adaptation you didn’t know you were waiting for. Just don’t expect a happy ending. Or any ending, really—until there’s only one left.