Stephen King made one ‘brutal’ demand for violent new film adaptation
Stephen King slams superhero films for sanitised violence
- Stephen King personally requested that the film adaptation of his 1979 novel, The Long Walk, increase its depiction of violence, specifically showing teenage characters being shot.
- King justified this by criticising superhero films for their sanitised violence, saying that not showing blood on screen despite widespread destruction was almost “pornographic”.
- Director Francis Lawrence and screenwriter JT Mollner adhered to King's demand, creating a “pretty brutal” movie that they believe retains the original book's intensity.
- The dystopian film portrays a group of teenage boys forced by a totalitarian regime into a deadly walking contest, where failure to maintain pace results in execution.
- The film will be released on 12 September.