Stephen King’s 1978 novel The Stand is one of his most iconic storylines, not only due to its blend of horror and fantasy, but also the fact that it is one of his most massive tomes, coming in at more than 1,100 pages. As was the trend in the ’90s, the King story was adapted for a TV series, yet the constrained production limitations of network TV failed to do the story justice. Luckily, a new adaptation of the story is on the way, with showrunner Josh Boone taking to Instagram to confirm a number of casting decisions for the upcoming project.
Stephen King’s website describes the story, “One man escapes from a biological weapon facility after an accident, carrying with him the deadly virus known as Captain Tripps, a rapidly mutating flu that – in the ensuing weeks – wipes out most of the world’s population. In the aftermath, survivors choose between following an elderly black woman to Boulder or the dark man, Randall Flagg, who has set up his command post in Las Vegas. The two factions prepare for a confrontation between the forces of good and evil.”
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Scroll down to see confirmed cast members and who they’ll be playing in The Stand.
James Marsden as Stu Redman
Amber Heard as Nadine Cross
Henry Zaga as Nick Andros
Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith
Long Connection
“I read The Stand under my bed when I was 12, and my Baptist parents burned it in our fireplace upon discovery,” Boone shared in a statement when the series was announced. “Incensed, I stole my Dad’s FedEx account number and mailed King a letter professing my love for his work. Several weeks later, I came home to find a box had arrived from Maine, and inside were several books, each inscribed with a beautiful note from god himself, who encouraged me in my writing and thanked me for being a fan. My parents, genuinely moved by King’s kindness and generosity, lifted the ban on his books that very day. I wrote King a cameo as himself in my first film and have been working to bring The Stand to the screen for five years. I’ve found incredible partners in CBS All Access and Ben Cavell. Together with Stephen King, Owen King, my longtime producing partners Knate Lee and Jill Killington, we plan to bring you the ultimate version of King’s masterwork.”
King’s Support
“I like Josh Boone’s work, I actually worked with him on his first feature,” King shared on the Post Mortem podcast. “And then he did The Fault in Our Stars, which I thought showed his grasp of the medium. And I like him a lot. I like his reach… his ambition for [The Stand]. Really the thing I’m most excited about is, first of all, we’ve got two more hours to tell the story. And second, we’re free of all those things that held us back with [the original mini-series]. Not only is the budget bigger… we’re free… in terms of language, in terms of violence… in a way that we weren’t with the original.”
The Year of King
While The Stand adaptation might be heading into production, fans likely shouldn’t anticipate its debut until 2020. We might have a long wait ahead of us, but 2019 is shaping up to be a big year for King and his fans.
Earlier this year, a new adaptation of Pet Sematary landed in theaters, while IT CHAPTER TWO, the conclusion to the story that kicked off in 2017’s IT, will debut on September 6th. Also coming in September will be the third season of Mr. Mercedes, which will premiere on September 10th.
On November 8th, Doctor Sleep will land in theaters, an adaptation of King’s sequel to The Shining, which will also serve as a follow-up to Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the original novel.
