Josh Boone's Stand adaptation might start as a miniseries that crescendos into a film. Making it a multimedia experiment.
NewsKeeping track of which stage (and medium) of development every Steven King adaptation is in is hard enough. However, the new cinematic take on The Stand is taking on some revolutionary developments at Warner Bros. and CBS Films.
According to TheWrap, the studios are in talks with Showtime to mount an ambitious eight-part miniseries that will air before the theatrically released Josh Boone adaptation of The Stand hits theaters. Indeed, Boone (who also adapted The Fault in Our Stars) is expected to also write and direct Showtime’s The Stand miniseries, which will keep the same cast and continuity as it dovetails into the part of the adventure meant only for the big screen.
After series like True Detective and Fargo, it is getting increasingly easier to land A-list talent interested in limited commitment to television projects. Indeed, rumor has it that Boone is still pursuing Matthew McConaughey for the role of Randall Flagg, a demonic like presence who is the villain of King’s epic vision.
Presumably, an additional eight hours to a three-hour film will give Boone more freedom in adapting this post-apocalyptic opus while also allowing some long-form storytelling (as opposed to when other directors might attempt to dissect the pace of a story among two or three films).
The Stand is a 1978 novel that tells of an apocalyptic virus that wipes out most of humanity, leaving only a few immune survivors to build a new life in the relatively untouched emptiness of the American West. Factions, loyalties, and even divinity are tested. The film has developed a cult like status in the decades since its publication and was adapted into an eight-hour miniseries on ABC in 1994.
The Stand miniseries is expected to start shooting early next year.
