A little over two months ago, we bore witness to the first trailer for “The Long Walk.” Based on a Stephen King novel, (written under his Richard Bachman pseudonym) we watched as a group of young men set off down the road to participate in the titular, “Long Walk.” And if you saw that trailer, or know the story from its written form, then you know this isn’t a pleasure stroll. One hundred men walk at no less than three miles per hour; falling under that pace will result in you being killed. Why would people agree to do this? The second trailer shines a bit more light on that.
As we the crowd of men walking along, we’re treated to moments of Cooper Hoffman playing Ray Garraty, and David Jonsson portraying Pete McVries. Pete tries to rally the men in a “one for all” chant, but there’s a solemness to it as they all know, there really is only one person who’s going to make it out of this. Mark Hamill as the Major, tells the boys that they’re the hope for the world, they’re the answer. Could they actually be anything like that in this dystopian hellscape?
Also, we kind of love this packet being handed out during the movie’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) yesterday.
We do find out that Pete seems to think he doesn’t really have any hope of anything to live for, that’s why he’s here. There’s money at the end of this road if he survives to see it. Garraty on the other hand wants to create some kind of change and sees this as the means to do it. Everyone has some kind of reason or non-reason to be there, and we see them trying to form a sense of camaraderie amongst the death and physical pain. If you’ve read the book, then you know there’s a lot of relationship building amidst the walking, more than you’d probably think given the circumstances. That’s what this trailer tries to reveal and build up.
In the montage of scenes that are displayed we see people getting killed, dead animals, people in fear for their loved ones, and in fear for themselves. It’s a simple premise that carries a lot of weight down the road it walks, just like the boys themselves. We’re eager to see how director Francis Lawrence uses his skills from directing several of “The Hunger Games” films to bring this similarly deadly survival game to life. “The Long Walk” hits theaters on September 12th, 2025.
