The Long Walk Director on Casting Mark Hamill as a Stephen King Villain

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Lionsgate debuted the archetypal trailer contiguous for The Long Walk, an upcoming endurance thriller directed by Hunger Games franchise seasoned Francis Lawrence and based connected the archetypal caller written by Stephen King (under his then-pseudonym Richard Bachman).

The Long Walk is acceptable successful a dystopian near-future wherever a radical of young men articulation a contention to locomotion arsenic acold arsenic they tin for arsenic agelong arsenic they tin without stopping. The past 1 lasting wins. What astir the ones who can’t support walking? Two warnings are given; the last 1 is simply a bullet. No substance the pain, nary substance however grueling the journey, you locomotion oregon you die.

Watch the archetypal trailer for The Long Walk below:

The movie stars Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) arsenic Raymond Garraty and David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus) arsenic Peter McVries, portion Mark Hamill goes to the acheronian broadside arsenic the sinister Major, person of the competition’s subject escort. Hoffman is the lad of the precocious Philip Seymour Hoffman, who Lawrence directed successful 3 Hunger Games films.

Here’s what Francis Lawrence told maine this week astir bringing The Long Walk – which the manager calls “one of my favorite, if not my favorite, Stephen King book” – to the large screen. (This interrogation has been edited for brevity and clarity.)

From The Hunger Games to The Long Walk

Francis Lawrence: I deliberation what I truly loved, and particularly due to the fact that this is mode pre-Hunger Games, was I emotion the conceit. I deliberation portion of it is conscionable the thought of locomotion astatine a definite gait and however agelong tin you spell without dipping beneath that speed, and what bash you bash erstwhile you request to eat, erstwhile you request to drink, erstwhile you request to spell to the bathroom, and successful the mediate of the nighttime erstwhile you're getting bushed and dozing disconnected and each of that. I deliberation erstwhile you person that benignant of a conceit, you get the assemblage to ideate themselves successful the character's shoes, nary pun intended, to truly effort and ideate themselves what it would beryllium similar and whether oregon not they could bash it.

The happening that I truly emotion and loved from the precise beginning, and that's the happening that I deliberation this movie is truly about, is the relationships betwixt each these young men. And it's 1 happening that truly differentiates from The Hunger Games. Of course, there's relationships that are formed successful those movies too, but this 1 is truly astir the camaraderie of these boys, and that's the bosom and psyche of the communicative of the halfway ensemble, but truly of McVries and Garraty, the benignant of 2 leads of the movie. And it was that that really, truly sold maine due to the fact that they felt similar existent grounded, authentic young men. Stephen King wrote this erstwhile helium was very, precise young, but those relationships and that dialog inactive holds up today. I deliberation it's truthful timeless and the relationships are timeless. I conscionable recovered it to beryllium a truly beauteous story, which is simply a weird happening to accidental with however aggravated it is and however unit it is. I deliberation it really is rather beauteous due to the fact that of the relationships.

How Difficult Is it to Shoot a Movie That’s All Walking All the Time?

Francis Lawrence: We changeable this movie chronologically and that's not thing that I've ever gotten to do. There's conscionable nary movie that's been built successful a mode that benignant of afforded maine that opportunity. But due to the fact that of the quality of this movie, these young men gather, they each conscionable each other, and erstwhile they commencement walking, each day, the determination changes and you're successful a caller scene. And truthful we could take chronologically, and I did interest a small spot successful the precise opening astir however I sprout these guys, however I artifact them, however bash you sprout them walking, talking, doing each these things. And what I realized that the important happening is successful this, again, is the camaraderie, arsenic it's the bosom of the story. … I person to truly absorption connected the characters and what the characters are going done physically, psychologically, emotionally with 1 another, seeing the degradation implicit clip and implicit days and aft nights and erstwhile the group's whittling away.

Another happening that besides helps is the alteration of locations [and] what is the benignant of upwind of the day, which is thing that we are precise overmuch benignant of astatine the whim of. If a country was written arsenic a rainy country but we amusement up and it's 100 degrees out, it present turns into a country astir sweltering heat. And that's different happening that happens successful these sequences. So, you person this variety: it could beryllium aboriginal foggy morning, it could beryllium raining, it could beryllium 100 degrees, determination could beryllium bugs. There's each these antithetic things that are happening and that marque each of the benignant of scenes and sequences person antithetic affectional values. And that's truly what I focused on, arsenic opposed to conscionable trying to get fancy with however bash I sprout them walking.

I wanted to beryllium truly anchored with the boys, and that meant that we were ever moving with them. So, there's precise fewer shots. There's immoderate benignant of establishers that are benignant of agelong lens shots from a distance, but usually we are close determination successful with the boys moving on with them 3 miles an hr down stretches of highways and roads and things similar that. So, erstwhile you're doing that and you're truly successful the mix, determination genuinely is truly lone a fistful of angles that you tin usage to convey what we privation to convey.

Walk a Mile (or 350) successful My Shoes

Francis Lawrence: Physically, it took a toll. I deliberation idiosyncratic clocked successful that, successful the movie, they locomotion similar 336 miles implicit 4 oregon 5 days oregon something, and we walked astir apt adjacent to 350 miles making the movie. I volition accidental I deliberation that was bully for the actors and they truly embraced it. But what was fascinating, and this really truly mirrors the characters, these are young men and with not afloat formed frontal cortexes, right?

So, they travel successful like, "Oh, this is going to beryllium great. We're each going to bash this movie wherever we're walking, and past we emotion these characters," and they're each gung ho, conscionable similar each the guys are astatine the opening of the movie and the weapon goes off, they commencement walking and a week into it, they're each like, "What the fuck person we gotten ourselves into?"

We're walking 3 quarters of a mile for each instrumentality successful definite scenes, and past going backmost to 1 and doing it again and doing it each day, and determination were blisters and sunburns and radical had to larn however to wrapper their feet. But erstwhile you spot immoderate radical limping, it was due to the fact that they were wiped retired and radical mislaid weight, and it was beauteous incredible.

Casting Star Wars Hero Mark Hamill arsenic a Stephen King Villain

Francis Lawrence: I've been a instrumentality since I was a kid. I mean, I saw Star Wars erstwhile I was seven, and truthful that was conscionable a immense movie for me. I deliberation anybody successful my procreation is conscionable truthful changed by witnessing the Star Wars movies. So, he's an icon and a legend, but I volition accidental it was the aboriginal ones. It was the J.J. [Abrams] Star Wars wherever I saw him and I hadn't seen him successful truthful long, and determination was conscionable this benignant of weariness to him and a gravitas to him that, rather honestly, I didn't cognize helium truly had.

But I did besides cognize that helium had done a ton of dependable work, and I don't deliberation a batch of radical truly cognize however overmuch dependable enactment he's done. And helium has existent bid implicit dialect and the benignant of code and the timbre of his dependable and things similar that. And I thought, "God, you know, there'd beryllium thing truly absorbing astir him playing this part." Because I didn't privation to spell down the way wherever you get immoderate existent subject guy, usually a subject advisor and conscionable sounds official. And I wanted somebody, again, with much complexity that conscionable had benignant of a weariness to him, but with gravitas.

He and I had a large Zoom [chat] and discovered that helium had, arsenic a kid, moved astir from subject basal to subject basal with his family, and helium knew these guys, these types of guys, and truthful helium could conscionable benignant of spell into this benignant of mishmash of assorted radical helium had met implicit the years arsenic a kid and benignant of conjured up his mentation of the Major. But it was conscionable fantastic to enactment with him. But I deliberation it was truly him successful J.J.'s movie [that] benignant of shifted my presumption of the kinds of roles that helium could play.