Hey folks... Precious Roy here with news out of Deadline Hollywood that CBS All Access has ordered a 10-episode miniseries for Stephen King's end-times drama THE STAND.
The new series is penned by writer/director Josh Boone (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and THE NEW MUTANTS) and producer/showrunner Benjamin Cavell (JUSTIFIED, SEAL TEAM). The article gets into Boone's very personal connection with Stephen King, which suggests that King has put the series in good hands, and includes a quote from King, who both endorses the project and praises Boone and Cavell's script.
For those who have never read the book or seen the previous series, THE STAND is about an unleashed government superflu that wipes out 99% of the world's population. The survivors are pulled in two directions: to the light with Mother Abigail in Nebraska, or to Randall Flagg, the Satan-like menace last played by Matthew McConaughey in THE DARK TOWER, and his wicked followers in Sin City. As the two groups begin rebuilding civilization, a war is in the making, where only one group can survive.
While the previous 4-episode miniseries had its ups and downs, it brought Gary Sinise's film career into focus. For that, I can only hope another great stage actor ready for the big screen is picked to play Stu 'East Texas' Redman, the simple and even soldier picked to be a leader in Mother Abigail's Light Side army.
The last miniseries had its teleplay written by King himself, which dealt with a lot of fat-trimming (Frannie's mom and the Ratman, Stu's Arnett days) but also added some great new dimensions, especially the God's Tom scene and resulting symmetrical dialogue moment. I hope that moment will be mined again, because as someone who loved the book, it absolutely floored me.
-- Precious Roy
