Stephen King fans are in for another big-screen treat – and this time, it’s one of the author’s most ambitious epics finally heading to cinemas with a major name attached.
Paramount Pictures has officially announced a new feature film adaptation of The Stand, Stephen King’s colossal 1978 novel set in a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by a deadly plague.
After decades of false starts, stalled projects and miniseries reworks, the studio has brought in Edge of Tomorrow and Road House director Doug Liman to take on what many consider King’s magnum opus.
And with the announcement comes the confirmation that a major star is already attached to a key role.
While full casting details are still under wraps, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the project is firmly in motion and that Liman and the studio have a “specific take” on the story – one that they believe can finally translate the 1,152-page novel into a single, self-contained film.
Previous attempts by filmmakers including Ben Affleck, Paul Greengrass, and George A. Romero failed to get off the ground, and while CBS All Access released a 2020 miniseries starring James Marsden and Alexander Skarsgård, the story has never before been successfully adapted for cinema.
At the centre of The Stand is a haunting premise: after a man-made virus wipes out most of the world’s population, the scattered survivors are drawn into a supernatural struggle between good and evil.
Characters find themselves forming allegiances in a newly fractured America – some gravitating toward the messianic Mother Abagail in Colorado, others to the dark, magnetic Randall Flagg in Las Vegas.
With its vast ensemble cast, biblical overtones, and bleakly prophetic tone, the novel has long been seen as one of King’s most complex and unfilmable works.
Details of Liman’s version remain tightly guarded, but it’s already clear the studio is aiming for something bold. Rather than breaking the novel up into multiple parts, like so many modern adaptations, this take is reportedly being designed as a single feature film.
From the sci-fi chaos of Edge of Tomorrow to the high-octane reboot of Road House and the stylised action of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Liman’s track record includes genre-defying, character-driven blockbusters.