Stephen King‘s 1979 novel The Long Walk was once deemed an impossible adaptation in Hollywood. However, after years in development hell, director Francis Lawrence finally brought the harrowing dystopian story to the big screen, earning significant critical acclaim for its brutal faithfulness and compelling performances. The film’s bleak narrative about a deadly walking contest resonated with critics, yet its theatrical run was modest. Still, box office numbers rarely tell the complete story of a film’s success or impact. For instance, The Long Walk has quietly surpassed the financial milestone of what many consider to be King’s most iconic and revered horror film ever made.
Videos by ComicBook.com
With its theatrical run winding down, The Long Walk has officially earned a worldwide box office total of $51.9 million. This figure pushes it past the entire theatrical gross of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece, The Shining, which ended its run with approximately $47 million. The comparison becomes even more striking when considering their similar production costs. The Shining was made for around $19 million, while The Long Walk was produced with a comparatively modest budget of $20 million.
2025 has been a busy year for Stephen King adaptations, and while all three films released so far have been well-received, The Long Walk stands as the highest-rated with an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It surpassed Mike Flanagan’s drama The Life of Chuck (79%) and Osgood Perkins’s horror film The Monkey (77%). Despite its superior critical reception, it was The Monkey that found greater commercial success, earning a solid $68.9 million worldwide. The Life of Chuck, which saw a more limited theatrical release, brought in a modest $16.2 million. The biggest King adaptation of the year is likely still to come, as Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, starring Glen Powell, is scheduled for a November release and is expected to dominate the box office with its high-octane action.
The Long Walk Will Soon Be Available at Home
For audiences who missed it in theaters, The Long Walk is officially coming to premium video-on-demand services on October 21st. Its home release provides an opportunity for a broader audience to see for themselves what critics and fans praised during its theatrical run, and for the film to build the lasting legacy that its powerful execution warrants.
The Long Walk‘s primary strength is its unflinching faithfulness to the source material’s oppressive atmosphere and existential dread. Director Lawrence’s direction is relentlessly grounded, creating a palpable sense of exhaustion and claustrophobia by focusing on the intimate suffering of the walkers rather than the mechanics of the contest. This approach is anchored by the performances of its cast, who powerfully convey the psychological collapse of young men forced to confront their own mortality one step at a time. As a result, The Long Walk is a successful translation of a notoriously difficult book, representing a form of character-driven horror that is stark, intelligent, and deeply unsettling.
The Long Walk is currently in theaters and will be available on PVOD on October 21st.
Have you seen The Long Walk in theaters? Will you watch it on PVOD? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm -
Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films
