Summary
- Mark Hamill to star in adaptation of King’s The Long Walk, tackling role of Major in intense walking contest ruled by totalitarian regime.
- Recent adaptation of The Long Walk praised for reducing walking speed to realistic 3 mph, director Francis Lawrence commended.
- Hamill discusses King’s versatility beyond horror, reflecting on initial terrifying experience with Pet Sematary and King’s non-genre works.
Although the legendary Mark Hamill needs very little introduction, the veteran actor has played the iconic Luke Skywalker in all the Star Wars films and sequel trilogies, as well as in the television series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett for nearly 50 years. Now, Hamill is making another notch in his illustrious career’s belt by starring in an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 novel The Long Walk that will see Hamill take on the role of the ruthless Major, as well as Albie Krantz in The Life of Chuck. Although this will be Hamill’s first time stepping inside the world of King, other than a short and uncredited cameo in Sleepwalkers as Sheriff Jenkins, he believes that the world-renowned author has been continuously, and unfairly, typecast.
The Long Walk‘s plot follows a group of 100 contestants who must take part in a horrifying televised annual walking contest without stopping, which is ruled by a totalitarian regime. Unless they want to face warnings or certain death, the young men must maintain a speed of 4 miles per hour. Recently, readers of the book praised the adaptation after watching The Long Walk‘s most recent trailer and finding out that the speed had finally been reduced to a realistic 3 miles per hour, giving high praise to director Francis Lawrence for listening to readers’ complaints over the years.
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Mark Hamills Says It’s “A Shame” Stephen King Is “Typed as a Horror Writer” as He’s So Versatile
Speaking about The Life of Chuck with Den of Geek, Mark Hamill talked about his first encounter with King’s work through the author’s huge catalog of books, revealing that he initially read the 1983 novel Pet Sematary, which he thought was “absolutely, unbearably terrifying.” Hamill said that someone suggested that he should go on to read some of King’s non-horror works, like The Shawshank Redemption, The Body [adapted into Stand by Me], or Green Mile, which opened Hamill’s world to King’s other genres, leaving him with the thought of how versatile he is and that it is “a shame” that he has been labeled as just a horror writer.
“It’s almost a shame that he’s typed as a horror writer when there’s so many other emotions that he elicits, not only in his non-genre work, but in something like The Shining. There are such human, relatable moments. I think that’s part of his gift, making you relate and believe in the people and the circumstances, so that when things go sideways, you’re unprepared.”
Unfortunately, King really didn’t appreciate Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, stating that he didn’t like how Kubrick portrayed the character of Wendy (played by the late Shelley Duvall) as weak and incapable of self-agency. He also hated Jack Nicholson’s version of Jack, who he described as “having no arc in that movie.” However, Hamill admits that Kubrick’s film is what convinced him to read King’s novel, because with the book he could “read” a character’s thoughts.
“A lot is left to the audience in terms of interpretation, because that’s just the kind of director Kubrick is. He’s much more interested in the atmosphere and the composition. He’s a fabulous filmmaker, but when you read the book, you hear the character’s thoughts, you find out who the ghosts are, what incident occurred there that made it become haunted, all these things that you have to lose to make a movie two and a half hours long. So I walked straight from seeing The Shining to a bookstore to buy the book to figure out what the hell I just watched.”
The Long Walk is scheduled to be released on September 12, 2025, and The Life of Chuck was released in select theaters in the United States on June 6, 2025, before expanding to a wider release on June 13.
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The Long Walk
- Release Date
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September 12, 2025
- Director
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Francis Lawrence
- Producers
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Roy Lee, Steven Schneider
Source: Den of Geek
