The massive success of Squid Game is opening a resurgence in the popularity of the death game genre, which could be the savior for a Stephen King adaptation announced in 2018 that has yet to be made. Squid Game follows a group of debt-ridden people who are recruited to participate in six children’s games in an effort to win billions of Won, only for the players to discover that losing or breaking the rules means death. Netflix's South Korean Squid Game show is one enthralling example of the “death game” genre that has been notably popular as a subset of sci-fi, dystopian, action, and thriller projects over the years, following protagonists who find themselves in games or contests that involve having to killing other players or working to evade their own deaths.
While the death game genre isn’t new in Squid Game, one reason for its success may be its novel streaming television format, having the ability to reach as many people as possible. The other most popular death games that have been compared to Squid Game are The Hunger Games (2012) and Battle Royale (2000), which have launched their own franchises. These films achieved resounding success, which makes it all the more strange that it’s taken Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk over a decade to finally find a home for the series. Since Squid Game is expected to become Netflix’s most popular show of all time, it may help other forgotten projects of the same genre to move forward.
Stephen King adaptations have never truly slowed since the author rose to notoriety in the 1970s, but a few anticipated book-to-screen transformations have sadly been lost in the mix. One significant example is the adaptation of King’s 1979 dystopian horror novel The Long Walk, which was first announced by New Line Cinema in 2018 and to be directed by André Øvredal, yet it still hasn’t come to fruition. Øvredal seems to have been busy with alternate horror stories since joining The Long Walk adaptation in 2019, but it still seems like a considerable time for a Stephen King project to be sitting in pre-production. With Squid Game gaining plenty of more anticipation for similar death game projects, now is the perfect time for New Line to provide details on The Long Walk’s release.
The internet went into a frenzy with Squid Game comparisons to The Hunger Games and Battle Royale when it dropped on Netflix, so introducing The Long Walk amid conversations around the genre would be sure to draw more attention to and anticipation for the movie. As one of King’s lesser-known books compared to the other upcoming adaptations of his works like Salem’s Lot and Firestarter, The Long Walk could easily get overshadowed in announcements. With Squid Game ensuring higher interest in the death game genre, The Long Walk has increased potential to become a hit and gain momentum, especially with Stephen King’s name on it.
The Long Walk also isn’t the first of Stephen King’s novels in the death game genre. He notably wrote The Running Man under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, in 1982, which was adapted into a film in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the protagonist. It was announced in early 2021 that King’s The Running Man is getting a remake by Last Night in Soho director Edgar Wright, but it seems counterproductive to renew an established story rather than launch the adaptation of an unmade one of the same genre and mind. Stephen King’s The Long Walk also introduces a sinister twist to the death genre like Squid Game, where 100 teenage boys walk over 4 mph until one is left standing to win a prize; if contestants go under the minimum speed, they’re shot and eliminated. Since those who have finished Squid Game are now looking for suggestions on similar premises, the time to quit stalling on The Long Walk.