The Long Walk Duo David Jonsson and Cooper Hoffman in Talks to Reunite for A24’s The Chaperones

David Jonsson and Cooper Hoffman might be teaming up again. Fresh off The Long Walk, the two are in talks to reunite for an indie road movie called The Chaperones. Different endurance test, fewer bullets (ideally), and absolutely less walking.

The Chaperones: who, what, where

The setup is simple and a little twisted: a drug dealer and his two slacker buddies get hired to transport a troubled teen across the country. Hoffman would play one of the chaperones, the aggressive, reckless one. Jonsson would be his partner, the guy who seems a lot less thrilled about the gig.

• Director: India Donaldson (Good One)
• Writer: Sebastian Black, making his feature debut
• Producers: A24 and Robert Pattinson's company Icki Eneo Arlo (yes, that one)
• Status: Jonsson and Hoffman are in talks
• Filming: Starts this fall in Ohio and New Mexico

Between Donaldson steering and A24 backing it (with Pattinson quietly producing via the very inside-baseball-sounding Icki Eneo Arlo), this has that scrappy, character-first road movie vibe all over it.

Why this reunion makes sense: The Long Walk

Right now, both Jonsson and Hoffman are front and center in The Long Walk, adapted from the Stephen King novel written under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. The premise is brutal: a group of teenage boys are forced into an annual contest where they must keep walking until only one is left. Stop, slow down too much, or fail to continue? You get shot. It is exactly as bleak as it sounds, and early reactions have called it intense, brutal, and emotionally heavy.

King adaptations swing wildly from disasters to masterpieces, but this one seems to be landing on the good side. Reviewer Chris Bumbray singled out the leads as the core of the movie and noted that, grim as it is, the film still works on a character level.

"The film is anchored by the lead performances of Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, whose bond is the heart of the film."

"... it's rich in characterization and wildly entertaining."

He also points out the movie might be a little too grim to become a broad-audience King sensation, which tracks given the premise. Still, if you were wondering why these two are a package worth reuniting, that pretty much answers it.

Bottom line: The Chaperones is lining up a sharp team, a tense hook, and a lean shoot this fall in Ohio and New Mexico. If The Long Walk just put Jonsson and Hoffman on a lot of radars, this sounds like the smart follow-up.