CBS All Access Is Adapting Stephen King’s The Stand
Stephen King’s The Stand has had a tumultuous ride through Hollywood. The book has been in print since 1978, and during ALL THAT TIME, one person or another has been trying to make a movie out of it. The big problem is that The Stand is one of King’s hugest books, and fitting the entire story into a two-hour sit would require a lot to be cut out or rewritten.
This may be why the only adaption of The Stand to ever see realization as a finished product was the 1994 miniseries aired by ABC. Told in six parts, they were able to fit most of the novel in there, but you know by now how heavily mocked ABC’s 90s adaptions of King novels are. Someone’s gotta do it better.
The latest attempt at adapting The Stand has been revealed, and it’s not a movie this time either….it’s an ongoing series CBS is greenlighting for its All Access service. No one is more enthusiastic than King:
“I’m excited and so very pleased that The Stand is going to have a new life on this exciting new platform,” King said to Variety. “The people involved are men and women who know exactly what they’re doing; the scripts are dynamite. The result bids to be something memorable and thrilling. I believe it will take viewers away to a world they hope will never happen.”
He was also this hyped about Under The Dome, he personally directed Maximum Overdrive, and he hated the Kubrick Shining, so in the grand scheme of things his approval doesn’t mean much.
The ten episodes of The Stand‘s first season will be written by Josh Boone and Ben Cavell. The pair are also serving as executive producers, and Boone is directing the episodes. Boone has held the rights since 2014 and has pitched several variations, including a four-movie adaption and a TV adaption that would LEAD into a feature film. This was the one someone bought.
The Stand currently has no release window.