Star Wars’ Mark Hamill Reveals Stephen King’s Power Over The Long Walk Movie

As one of the stars of The Long Walk, Mark Hamill recently spoke about Stephen King and his influence on the movie, including their chance meeting at the Toronto Film Festival.

According to Hamill, The Long Walk is a faithful adaptation of King’s 1979 dystopian novel, which he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. King remains one of the most influential authors in Hollywood, as his stories have inspired dozens of movies. With influence comes power, which King utilizes when someone wants to adapt one of his books.

What did Mark Hamill say about Stephen King’s involvement in The Long Walk?

“Stephen King had some early experiences that were unpleasant for him,” Hamill said via GamesRadar+. “And he’s such a prolific author and such a successful author. Over the years, he was able to gain casting approval, script approval, director approval across the board.”

In The Long Walk, Hamill plays the Major, the militaristic leader supervising the contest that forces the young men to move or die. Hamill recalled a meeting where King tipped him off about his casting as The Major, which speaks to the author’s impact on his adaptations.

“When I met him, I got to sit next to him at the Toronto Film Festival,” Hamill explained. “And when I went in to sit down, he looked up at me, he says, ‘The Major.’ And I thought, how does he know? How does he know that I’m playing the Major? And later, they told me. They said, [it was] because he had casting approval, and he approved. That was motivation and validation for me, that he knew that I was gonna play it, and it was okay with him. That was a thrill.”

In The Long Walk, 100 young men enter a contest where they must walk at least three miles per hour or die. The film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Hamill.

Francis Lawrence directs The Long Walk from a screenplay by JT Mollner. Lionsgate will release the thriller in theaters on September 12, 2025.

The post Star Wars’ Mark Hamill Reveals Stephen King’s Power Over The Long Walk Movie appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.