Last year it was announced that New Line Cinema had picked up the movie rights to Stephen King’s 1979 Richard Bachman novel The Long Walk, and now comes word that the project has found itself a director.
Variety reports that Andre Ovredal, the director behind The Autopsy of Jane Doe and the hotly-anticipated upcoming Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark adaptation, will helm the film, which has been scripted by James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man).
Set in a dystopian America, The Long Walk follows a 16-year-old called Raymond Garraty who is chosen alongside 99 other teens to take part in an annual walking contest. It’s no ordinary contest however, as the participants must maintain an average speed above four miles per hour or risk being shot dead, and the winner is decided by being the last one still alive.
The Long Walk is one of many Stephen King adaptations in the works, and the third at New Line after It: Chapter Two and Salem’s Lot.
