They are clearly going to keep trying until somebody gets it right! According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Stand is to be adapted once again, and this time by Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Road House remake, The Bourne Identity).
The Stand was the fifth book to be published from Stephen King. It is regarded as one of his best and a landmark novel. It is hard to completely define, as it straddles several genres, including post-apocalyptic, horror, and fantasy, and contains allegory. It has been republished several times in several editions with new content edited in at various points.
It is King’s longest novel at well over 1000 pages, with up to 400 new pages appearing in later editions.
The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza after a military lab leak. In the aftermath, the few surviving humans find themselves drawn to two different figures. One is a centenarian woman living in Hemingford Home, Nebraska known as Mother Abagail. The other is a man in Las Vegas known as Randall Flagg. The two gather distinctly different groups to themselves that seem fated to clash.
Liman is set to direct and produce for Paramount Pictures alongside Tyler Thompson (American Made).
Interestingly, the project is said to be a single feature film, rather than a multi-part series, mini-series, or streaming serial. Because taking a massive King novel and fitting it into a short-ish feature worked so well recently for Salem’s Lot, didn’t it?
The property has been adapted several times before. The 1994 mini-series was directed by Mick Garris. With an all-star TV cast of Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Rob Lowe, Ruby Dee, Miguel Ferrer, and Ed Harris, it was a big hit and ranks alongside the Salem’s Lot miniseries and the Tim Curry-led version of IT as top-tier King adaptions.
A recent Paramount+ version starred James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgård, Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, Ezra Miller, Nat Wolff, Hamish Linklater, JK Simmons, and Greg Kinnear. That fared less well with critics.
George A. Romero, David Yates, and Ben Affleck all tried to mobilise movie adaption in the past, but none succeeded.
Liman will get on The Stand once he clears Deeper starring Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas.
