It was reported last year that James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) would write the script and he’s still on board. Vanderbilt is a vastly intelligent and capable writer and should deftly take on the source material. But I’m going to tell you now, if the movie follows the book closely then it’ll easily earn a HARD R-rating. It’s a ruthless book, full of teenagers being shot to death repeatedly. King fans have always known that his Bachman alter ego would often showcase his darker side and The Long Walk is evidence of that. This novel pulled NO punches. Don’t expect to take your kids to see this one. The Hunger Games it most certainly is not.

This is an adaptation that has been long, long, long in development. Frank Darabont was attached to it years ago but never got it off the ground. That’s partly due to the bleakness of the story but it seems that King is so hot right now that those fears have died down. The plot is also not very cinematic, to be honest. It really is just about kids walking and only walking for days on end. There are some great characters, of course, but they don’t venture from the task at hand. The story really is about a long, long, long walk. It worked wonderfully as a short novel and I have faith that it can be a terrific movie as well. Violent? Yes. Brutal? Yes. Depressing? Yes. Classic Stephen King? Yes.