Mark Hamill Opens Up About The Long Walk’s Biggest Change—And Why Stephen King Was All In

The Long Walk makes a big swing with its ending, and Mark Hamill felt that heat. He was nervous about the change until Stephen King gave the OK — and then test audiences answered with a reaction Hamill was very ready for.

Massive spoilers for The Long Walk below.

Hamill on the ending change (and that crowd-pleaser moment)

Hamill told me he was uneasy when he realized the film was veering from the book. King signing off settled the nerves — and the audience response sealed it.

"The fact that they made a major change like that — it made me nervous. I mean, we would have had to change it if he didn’t. But he approved of it, and I’m glad he did. I said to Lawrence, 'If I’ve done my job correctly, when I get shot, the whole audience should erupt in applause.' And after a couple of test screenings, he said, 'You’ll be pleased to know, there was a big cheer when you get it.' I thought, 'Oh, good. I’ve done my job correctly.'"

That 'Lawrence' is director Francis Lawrence, by the way. Inside baseball, sure — but it does tell you how deliberate that ending choice was.

Who the Major is and why people cheer when he gets shot

Hamill plays the Major, a brutal military strongman running the fractured remains of the United States. He cooked up the annual Long Walk — 50 men forced to walk until they die — and sells it as a twisted kind of "fairness" for the country. He is, in short, the person you’re supposed to hate.

Book vs. movie: what changed and why it matters

• In Stephen King’s book: Ray Garraty (played in the film by Cooper Hoffman) wins the Walk, brushes past the Major, and follows a shadowy figure into the dark. The Major’s sins are mostly implied — including that Ray’s father was "squadded," meaning taken by the regime and never seen again.
• In the movie: the violence is explicit. The Major executes Ray’s father in front of Ray and his mother. That trauma fuels Ray’s plan to win and kill the Major himself.
• The twist: Peter McVries (David Jonsson) is the one who actually wins — and he shoots the Major, effectively carrying out the vengeance Ray intended. It’s a cathartic, crowd-pleasing flip on the book’s ending.
• Aftermath: McVries’s fate is left hanging, which keeps a sliver of King’s ambiguity even as the movie delivers the Major’s very final curtain call.

So yes, it’s a major change — the kind that can spark debate — but with King’s blessing and a test-audience cheer for the Major’s exit, the movie is clearly aiming for a cleaner emotional payoff.

The Long Walk is in theaters now.