At San Diego Comic‑Con last wek, The Long Walk took center stage in Hall H for a gripping panel that left fans both shaken and eager. Moderated by The Kingcast hosts Anthony Breznican and Eric Vespe, the session featured cast members Mark Hamill, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, as well as producer Roy Lee and screenwriter J.T. Mollner.
A pre-recorded message from Stephen King kicked things off, emphasizing that The Long Walk—written under his pseudonym Richard Bachman—predates franchises like The Hunger Games and Squid Game, and promising the film “has some hard bark on it.”
The panel debuted the new trailer (watch below), intensifying earlier previews with scenes of emerging friendships, psychological strain, and emotional devastation between key contestants Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter McVries (David Jonsson).
Mark Hammil came out in is role as the Major to open the LONG WALK panel ,I had no immediate plans to see this,this panel and the first 22 monthly showed us changed that #SDCC2025 #SDCC25 #thelongwalk #markhammil #thescificenter pic.twitter.com/F9AmnnFaLH
— The Sci Fi Center (@thescificenter) July 26, 2025
Blanked-Out Clip & Exclusive Sneak Peek
Attendees were treated to the first 22 minutes of the film—an exclusive sneak peek—but a particularly graphic kill scene was blacked out in real time by the panel producers, deemed too intense for even a Comic‑Con audience. The censored execution featured a soldier firing on a seizing teen, a moment echoed in edited form within the trailer.
Mark Hamill comes on to the Hall H stage here at Comic Con and shows off his awesome shirt on The Long Walk panel🔥 #SDCC pic.twitter.com/R7E7jayh1x
— chalice✨ (@HeyChalice) July 25, 2025
Cast & Crew Insights
Mark Hamill opened his jacket to reveal a shirt nodding to Richard Bachman, a playful homage to King’s pseudonym. Hamill also shared behind-the-scenes anecdotes during an exclusive interview: several young actors, including Cooper Hoffman, avoided him on set to preserve the chilling dynamic of their antagonist–protagonist relationship. Over time, genuine camaraderie developed—with Dairy Queen trips among the cast marking moments of off-camera connection.
Writer J.T. Mollner emphasized the team’s commitment to preserving the novel’s intensity. “I went through the entire book and underlined things that I wanted to keep… the beauty, love and the story of friendship along with the brutality of hopelessness and terror,” he told Deadline.
Physical Toll & Film DNA
Garrett Wareing revealed during press Q&A that cast members would walk 8 to 15 miles daily while filming in Winnipeg, tracking their steps secretly for authenticity. This grueling pace echoes the relentless endurance tested in the story itself.
Bringing emotional complexity to the brutal premise, the new trailer underscores themes of friendship, war allegory, and existential endurance—especially between Ray and Peter—a relationship that adds a tragic weight to the survival story.
Mark Hamill broke down at #SDCC the day he did his iconic monologue in #TheLongWalk. pic.twitter.com/PGjGFuhY0p
— Fandango (@Fandango) July 26, 2025
Release info
The Long Walk gets released in theaters on September 12, 2025 directed by Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence. Starring includes Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.
THE LONG WALK, an intense, chilling, and emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question: how far could you go? Set in a dystopian alternative version of the United States ruled by a totalitarian regime, the story follows 50 young men who sign up for THE LONG WALK, where they walk at a pace of 3 miles per hour until contestants are eliminated one-by-one and only one winner is left.
Watch the official trailer:
