.(L to R) T. Mollner, Tut Nyuot, Roy Lee, David Jonsson, Mark Hamill and Garrett Wareing attend “The Long Walk” panel at San Diego Comic-Con International 2025 at the San Diego Convention Center on July 25, 2025 in San Diego, California. Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lionsgate.
Preview:
Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk arrived at Comic-Con.
Mark Hamill and Garrett Wareing were among those on the panel.
The movie will be released in September.
‘The Long Walk’, just the latest adaptation of prolific author Stephen King’s work –– in this case, a dystopian tale of an annual event that ends with the death of everyone competing save the winner.
With ‘Hunger Games’ director Francis Lawrence overseeing the new movie, it has a dark premise but an impressive cast that includes Cooper Hoffman, Mark Hamill, Garrett Wareing and Ben Wang.
“The task is simple: walk or die.”
Every year, fifty teenage boys meet for an event known throughout the country as “The Long Walk.” Among this year’s chosen crop is sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty…. Read the Plot
Lionsgate is betting on this one being a success, and brought filmmakers and actors to Comic-Con to raise awareness.
Related Article: San Diego Comic-Con 2025 Preview: Film & TV Panels You Cannot Miss
What’s the story of ‘The Long Walk’?
(L to R) Cooper Hoffman as Garraty and David Jonsson as McVries in ‘The Long Walk’. Photo Credit: Murray Close.
Every year, fifty teenage boys meet for an event known throughout the country as “The Long Walk.”
Among this year’s chosen crop is sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty (Hoffman). He knows the rules: that warnings are issued if you fall under speed, stumble, sit down. That after three warnings… you get your ticket.
And what happens then serves as a chilling reminder that there can be only one winner in the Walk. The one that survives.
What happened at ‘The Long Walk’s panel?
Mark Hamill speaks during ‘The Long Walk’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con International 2025 at San Diego Convention Center on July 25, 2025 in San Diego, California. Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lionsgate.
The movie’s panel opened with the latest trailer and then a soldier taking the stage with a loud hailer to explain the premise of the walk to the audience.
Producer Roy Lee and writer JT Mollner were first up on the panel, with Lee praising Mollner’s script for getting the movie made after years in development.
For his part, Mollner recounted underlining dialogue from the book he wanted to use –– suffice to say, he underlined a lot!
Joining them on stage were the likes of Hamill, Wareing, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot and other cast. The early banter between the young actors in particular was mostly enthusiastic descriptions of their characters’ arcs and praise for their co-stars’ skills.
(L to R) Anthony Breznican, Eric Vespe, Mark Hamill, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Garrett Wareing, Roy Lee and J.T. Mollner speak during ‘The Long Walk’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con International 2025 at San Diego Convention Center on July 25, 2025 in San Diego, California. Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lionsgate.
Hamill revealed that Stephen King had casting approval –– and specifically wanted him to play the character of the Mayor, who oversees the Walk. For his part, Hamill wanted to dehumanize the character as much as possible.
Lawrence and Ben Wang weren’t present at the panel –– they’re both at work on ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ –– but they sent a video praising their colleagues and hyping ‘The Long Walk’.
The panel wrapped up with a screening of the first 22 minutes of the movie. Tense stuff!
When will ‘The Long Walk’ be in theaters?
The new Stephen King adaptation marches into theaters on September 12th.
‘The Long Walk’ opens in theaters on September 12th.
Boring Trailer for ‘We’re Not Safe Here’ Supernatural Horror Thriller
by Alex Billington July 25, 2025 Source: YouTube
“I don’t know if I can keep it inside me any longer… I keep hearing something…” What is that weird noise? Mongrel Media has revealed an official trailer for an indie horror thriller film titled We’re Not Safe Here, marking the feature directorial debut of newcomer genre filmmaker Solomon Gray. This is being dumped on VOD starting in August coming soon – it’s another generic PG-13 horror flick that doesn’t look like it’s that interesting. After vanishing, a woman returns with a chilling tale. Now, she and her friend are hunted by a dark force that twists fear into reality. Such a vague synopsis with no real info – and that’s all there is online about this film. Starring Hayley McFarland as Rachel, Sharmita Bhattacharya, Margaret Wuertz, and Caisey Cole. Well, this looks like an instantly forgettable movie – don’t waste your time or money on it.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Solomon Gray’s horror film We’re Not Safe Here, from YouTube:
Days after her sudden disappearance, a woman reappears – distraught and carrying a disturbing story. What at first seems like a mystery soon takes a dark turn: an invisible force is hot on her heels and even her friend can’t stop it. As tensions rise, they must navigate a series of unexpected events to ensure their survival in an increasingly hostile environment.We’re Not Safe Here is both written and directed by genre filmmaker Solomon Gray, making their feature directorial debut with this project; also a writer on the horror film Hurt (2018) previously. Produced by Sonny Mallhi and Solomon Gray. This hasn’t premiered at any film festivals or elsewhere, as far as we know. Saban Films will debut Gray’s We’re Not Safe Here horror film in select US theaters + on VOD starting August 22nd, 2025 coming soon this summer. Looks scary?
Find more posts in: Horror, Indies, To Watch, Trailer
Even Tom Basden is surprised by how affecting his new film is.
The Brit, who stars in and wrote The Ballad of Wallis Island with comedian Tim Key, is talking to The Hollywood Reporter about finally getting his film out in theaters in his native Britain and, oddly enough, being a little taken aback by its reception.
“We hit a few ideas early on,” he explains, referencing the short film he, Key and director James Griffiths first made about the characters all the way back in 2006. “Herb’s a little bit washed up, pining for his mid-20s, Charles has been obsessed with this band for a very long time and used to watch the gigs with his wife, who’s now died. Quite organically, a sadness began to come out on the page, a kind of longing,” Basden recalls. “It took us by surprise. And even at the point where we were watching a finished film with an audience, I don’t think we realized how emotional those threads were. It’s very hard to plan for the moments that the audience is going to become emotionally invested.”
Basden and Key’s comedy-drama debuted earlier this year at Sundance, later earning a limited theatrical release in the U.S. in March before it hit theaters in the U.K. in May through Focus Features. It follows musician Herb McGwyer (Basden), formerly half of folk duo McGwyer Mortimer, who has been contracted to play a private gig on the remote Wallis Island by widowed superfan Charles Heath (Key).
But things start to go awry when Herb discovers Charles has also invited ex-bandmate (and actual ex) Nell Mortimer, played by Carey Mulligan, to join. Akemnji Ndifornyen stars as Michael, Nell’s American husband, and Sian Clifford as Amanda, the island’s sole shopkeeper. What transpires is a film bursting at the seams with heart, adored by laymen and critics alike.
“We drew up a list for who could play the part of Nell and Carey was at the top of that list, but we didn’t know her,” says Basden about getting Oscar nominee Mulligan on board. “Tim had been emailed by her about five years earlier, so he had her email by stealth and basically cold-called her.”
According to Basden, Mulligan connected with the material immediately. “She just really responded to the script — I think she wanted to do a comedy,” he says. “She’d done quite a lot of, let’s say serious, quite dark films in the last few years. She wanted to do something that was more comic and more touching. She really believed in it as it was, and had exactly the same aims for the type of film that we wanted it to be.”
Carey Mulligan as Nell and Tim Basden as Herb in The Ballad of Wallis Island.
Focus Features
After the release of their 2007 short, Basden and Key left Wallis Island well alone until 2018. It was then — and with the help of an industry-shattering pandemic — that the pair returned to their feature-length dreams in earnest.
The low-budget movie got everything it needed in just 18 shooting days on location, but even at a cheaper rate, it took some time to find the financing.
“We really believed in the script and we deliberately made it very small,” says Basden. “We’re all in our 40s, or in James’s case, 50s. We’ve made a lot of TV, we understand budgets. We made it a very small film with a very small cast, all shooting in basically two locations and even so, we struggled to get any interest,” he admits. “We were turned down by all the funding bodies in the U.K.: Film4, the BFI…”
“And Tim is such an idealist that he always believed we’d make it,” continues Basden. “I’m a bit more defeatist. (Laughs.) Then we sent it to Carey and not only do you suddenly have something quite real to hold onto — a genuine, Oscar-nominated film star attached to your film — but it gives renewed momentum and confidence for us that people, someone like Carey, really likes the script. But it just feels quite arbitrary, the funding system in the U.K… It’s a fundamentally British film and it’s done best in the U.K., but it took American money to actually get the thing made.”
Basden hopes that The Ballad of Wallis Island — a well-received, popular movie written and starring British talent, about British people and shot in Britain — will provide hope to fellow filmmakers. “I believe that it’s possible in cinema to make things that are original and also really popular,” he says. “There shouldn’t be this divide between reboots, sequels, recycled IP and live-action and then the slightly soporific art-house movies. We must be able to make stuff that’s original and funny and moving but also can be popular and attract a mainstream audience. I haven’t given up on that.”
One of the more amusing aspects of releasing the film both in the U.S. and in the U.K. has been seeing different reactions from Americans and British audiences to the adventures of Herb, Charles and Nell. He says that being in the States when The Ballad of Wallis Island debuted reminded him that his project was “very much an international movie.”
“They’d never seen anything like Tim’s character,” he remembers. “[They were like], ‘He just makes no sense to me.’ And then you show it in the U.K., and we all know people like that. One in four people in the U.K. are like that,” he says of Charles’ bumbling awkwardness and quirky personality. “It’s a very different thing [in the U.K.], where people just tap into the very British subtext of it. But American audiences have been really into it. I think they feel like they’ve discovered something really fresh.”
The heartwarming success of The Ballad of Wallis Island has only left fans with one question: what do Basden and Key have planned next? He jokes: “Carey talks passionately about the sequel and I think, because we made the short and 18 years later released the feature, I think 18 years later we should come back and make the sequel to the feature. Maybe Charles and Amanda will get married, and McGwyer Mortimer are playing at the wedding.”
He tells THR that him and Key have a few ideas they’re working on — one or two of which they are “very excited by.” For now, the duo are trying to soak up the fervid fan reaction to this pretty neat indie they’ve put out into the world. “There’ll come a point where we think about another one, maybe with a slightly bigger budget [and] made with love… But it feels very special to us that we’ve got here.”
When the casting for the Superman movie was announced, I’ll admit I was concerned about how writer/director James Gunn would be able to introduce the new Man on Steel and have members of the Justice League involved. While I wouldn’t say the execution was perfect, I must say I was impressed with how invested I became in the supporting cast despite my feelings toward them walking into the release. There’s even one hero I want to see a spinoff ASAP for: Hawkgirl.
I Want More Of Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl After Her Appearance In Superman
I’m already a huge Isabela Merced fan. She was amazing in The Last Of Us, and I also really liked her in a movie called Turtles All The Way Down. But I knew Superman had a packed cast, and didn’t necessarily have high hopes for what would come of her role as Hawkgirl. However, it’s been about two weeks since I watched Superman, and I’m still thinking about the impression she made on the movie.
Hawkgirl only had a few scenes, but she made the most of every one, and she’s got one of the best moments in the movie: when she drops Boravian president Vasil Ghurkos after announcing she’s “not Superman.” It was just enough of an introduction to Hawkgirl that I care about the character, and I want more. But when I looked over the list of upcoming DC movies on the way after Superman, I was disappointed to learn a Hawkgirl movie is not on the slate. What the heck?
Peacemaker Season 2, and Merced pointed out to ComicBook that she’ll specifically get to show Hawkgirl’s “relationship to Maxwell Lord”, played by Sean Gunn. But I’ll be honest, I’m tired of great female superheroes being left to the sidelines, especially when there’s a great opportunity to bring them into the spotlight. I’ve been wanting to see Hollywood adapt Hawkgirl’s story for ages, and I want it to finally happen with Merced’s version.
As Merced has shared, Hawkgirl has a “really dark” backstory, but James Gunn’s superhero movies have never shied away from some dismal stuff before. The filmmaker’s power is how he can blend the two together. There have been a lot of iterations of Hawkgirl over the years, but her version is Kendra Saunders, who is a reincarnation of an alien. In the comics, her body was taken over by Hawkgirl after Kendra died by suicide (and her parents were also previously murdered by corrupt cops). She has all of Kendra’s memories, but almost none of the past Hawkgirl various iterations aside from fighting experience.
I’d also love to see Hawkgirl and Hawkman’s epic romance be adapted, but Merced also brought up how she’s a big fan of the Green Lantern romance in Justice League: Unlimited. There’s so much here to explore. Either way, I’m going to need DC Studios to get going on a Hawkgirl movie (or TV show), ASAP!
With Friday’s streaming launch of Adam Sandler‘s comedy sequel Happy Gilmore 2, Netflix has made sure to tap the movie into the public consciousness.
Ever since Netflix confirmed last year that it was making a sequel to Adam Sandler’s popular 1996 movie, Happy Gilmore, fans have been eagerly awaiting the follow-up. Director Kyle Newacheck‘s new movie sees Sandler reprise his role as an unlikely golfer known for his long drives. Bad Bunny, Benny Safdie and Haley Joel Osment are among the cast additions alongside returning stars Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Ben Stiller.
Even before the trailer dropped in May, the film’s marketing had kicked into gear, with McDonald appearing in character as cocky golfer Shooter McGavin at the WM Phoenix Open golf tournament months prior. Then, the trailer’s release proved to be a big success, according to the streamer.
“People love the original movie,” Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria told the audience during the film’s premiere at New York’s Lincoln Center. “When we released the trailer, fans went nuts. It’s the best trailer performance we’ve had for any Netflix film.”
Christopher McDonald (left) as Shooter McGavin and Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore in Happy Gilmore 2.
Scott Yamano/Netflix
As The Hollywood Reporter previously reported, Netflix capitalized on this momentum with moves including brand partnerships with U.S. Bank, Callaway, Topgolf and Subway, with the latter featuring prominently in both movies. The ads for Subway center on McDonald, who is also the face of the sandwich spot’s Happy Gilmore meal.
“Subway was a big part of the first one, and so they stepped up and wanted to be in the second one as well,” McDonald recently told THR. “Luckily, we had some great writers from the Happy Gilmore camp who gave me some really fun lines.”
Other unique methods of spreading awareness for Happy Gilmore 2 included transforming the iconic Times Square ball into a golf ball with the titular character’s likeness. Additionally, Sandler appeared in character at last month’s NHL Draft to announce the pick for Happy’s favorite hockey team, the Boston Bruins, and the star even had his own category on Jeopardy! this week.
“Capturing the tone of the iconic first film and preparing fans for the next chapter is a lotta pressure,” says Netflix vp of films marketing Jonathan Helfgot. “You gotta harness the good ideas, block out the bad. Harness. Good. Block. Bad.”
The exec adds, “In all seriousness, Happy is the ultimate disruptor, and it was so much fun to push the limits on this campaign in his style. You could feel the excitement growing with every beat, and it won’t stop now that we’ve released. We can’t wait to celebrate fans’ new cult-favorite moments every step of the way.”
Indeed, the excitement does continue, with Netflix announcing Friday that easter-egg video game Happy Gilmore: Golf Mayhem ’98 Demo is now available to members on eligible TVs and Netflix.com. The retro game allows fans to golf, square off against familiar foes and generally cause mayhem. It’s enough to send Happy Gilmore to his happy place.
