Stephen King’s Thriller The Long Walk Tops HBO Max Movie Chart

Stephen King’s The Long Walk has become the most-watched movie on HBO Max after joining the streaming service on July 10.

According to Screen Rant, the Stephen King thriller replaced Lee Cronin’s The Mummy at the top of HBO Max’s movie chart. The film previously streamed on Starz before moving to HBO Max, where this Stephen King thriller quickly gained traction with viewers.

What is The Long Walk about?

The Long Walk follows a group of young competitors forced to participate in a deadly endurance contest. They must maintain a required walking speed, with fatal consequences for anyone who falls behind.

Francis Lawrence directed the Stephen King adaptation. He previously directed several Hunger Games movies, giving him extensive experience with dystopian stories and survival-focused narratives.

The cast includes Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, and Ben Wang.

The Stephen King adaptation took decades

King wrote The Long Walk in 1966, making it one of his earliest completed novels. It was published in 1979 under his Richard Bachman pseudonym.

Despite the book’s popularity, filmmakers struggled to bring this Stephen King thriller to cinemas. George A. Romero and Frank Darabont both attempted adaptations, but neither project moved forward.

The novel’s repetitive structure and focus on conversations between walking competitors made it difficult to adapt. The movie eventually reached theaters in September 2025.

Reviews and box office performance

The Long Walk received strong reviews for its performances, emotional impact, and loyalty to King’s original story.

The movie holds an 88% critics’ score and an 85% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It earned approximately $63 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $20 million.

The Long Walk is now available to stream on HBO Max.

For more viewing options, check out our guide to the best movies to watch on streaming platforms. TV fans can also read about the Taylor Sheridan action series Lioness, which returns to streaming in August.