Writer/director Frank Darabont has proven himself as one of the top adapters and directors in Stephen King cinema with THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE, and reinforces that rep with THE MIST, which Dimension opens November 21. And while promoting that film, the director revealed that he still intends to turn King’s 1979 novel THE LONG WALK (originally published under the author’s Richard Bachman pseudonym) into a feature. “I still have the rights to THE LONG WALK,” Darabont tells Fango, “which is terrific, and would probably be even more low-budget than THE MIST. It’s kind of on the back burner, like THE MIST was on the back burner for a while,” but he says he hopes that “suddenly the day will come when, ‘OK, it’s time to make this one.’ ”
Since THE LONG WALK is about a futuristic event in which 100 teenaged boys go on a nonstop march—in which falling below a certain pace is punishable by violent death—until only one is left standing, the story is both timely and would lend itself quite well to the guerrilla/handheld style Darabont employed on THE MIST. While any forward motion on the project is on hold till the current Writers Guild strike is settled, we’re hoping to hear that it’s up and running soon. See Fango #268, on sale now, for an extensive interview with Darabont on THE MIST.
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