Josh Boone’s massive adaptation of Stephen King’s controversial classic, The Stand, just got a little bit bigger. Instead of one three-hour feature, the project will now kick off with an 8-episode mini-series for Showtime. The Wrap broke the news of the miniseries, a co-production between Warner Bros and CBS, which will be one cohesive shoot starting early next year.
Matthew McConaughey is already on board as King mega villain Randall Flagg, but The Wrap adds that the production seeks to bring in an A-list cast to fill the rest of the cast:
A miniseries will allow Boone to cover more of King’s epic book than one three-hour movie. The same thinking was once applied to King’s “Dark Tower” series, which never got off the ground, though “The Stand” offers an ensemble-driven story that may be better suited for a groundbreaking adaptation envisioned here.
King is expected to be involved in some capacity along with producers Roy Lee and Jimmy Miller, and high-level meetings among the filmmaking team are taking place next week to finalize the ambitious multi-platform plan. Top talent agents have already been notified, as Boone is expected to set his sights on several A-listers, many of whom have become more interested in doing limited TV in the wake of HBO’s “True Detective.”
Boone is jumping onto this before he begins work on the X-Men spin-off New Mutants for Fox, keeping his schedule fairly stuffed for the next few years. Anything could change obviously, especially considering the constantly shifting nature of King’s adaptations, but things seem to be on track for now. The casting process should be an interesting one.
