Stephen King’s 2014 book Revival is going to be made into a movie. Shocking, I know. Speaking of shocking, Revival is a Frankenstein-inspired tale about an ex-priest who becomes obsessed with faith healing and strange electrical experiments after the tragic death of his wife and son. The movie version of Revival is being written and directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in our Stars).
But wait, wasn’t Boone supposed to be helming the adaptation of King’s sprawling post-apocalyptic epic The Stand? Yup, but unfortunately The Stand has proven too big, too dark and potentially problematic, for Boone to get his head around. At least for the time being. Warner Bros.’ rights to The Stand have also lapsed, so the project is in limbo at the moment while it looks for a new studio. Boone still wants to make The Stand, and King apparently has faith in him – enough to offer him Revival while The Stand is up in the air.
In an interview with Deadline, Josh Boone talked a bit about his connection to both The Stand and Revival:
“When I read The Stand, it was literally from under my bed. I was raised by evangelical Christians, who believed in The Rapture. I wasn’t allowed to read Stephen King books for a large part of my childhood. I would read these books under the bed and hide them in the box spring, like normal kids stashed their pornography.
When I read Revival, I was like, man, did you write this for me? I believed in since childhood. I believed in the devil, in Jesus, and even now as a non-believer, I’m still fascinated by that world and Revival is the scariest thing he’s written since Pet Sematary. It’s powerhouse stuff, and two of the best characters he has written since Annie Wilkes. I still intend to make The Stand, but I need more time, and when I asked Steve about Revival, he put me together with [producer] Mike De Luca.”
Filmmakers have been trying to adapt The Stand for decades, and it seemed like this most recent attempt might actually happen, particularly once Matthew McConaughey was rumored to be aboard. Unfortunately, things are now starting to sound unlikely. But hey, Revival sounds like fun, and if Boone can nail this less ambitious King adaptation, maybe it will spark The Stand back to life.
(Via Deadline)
