The world of Stephen King adaptations continues to grow, this time with an action filmmaker legend attached to the helm. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today that Doug Liman, the visionary behind such favorites as The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Edge of Tomorrow will pick up the reins and move forward on the lofty task of bringing King’s novel, The Stand, to the big screen. If you’re wondering why we’d use the word “lofty” as a descriptor when pointing to turning this particular book into a cinematic production, it’s because the book is the longest in the horror author’s lengthy repertoire of writing, clocking in at a whopping 1,152 pages. As of right now, no writer has been revealed to undergo the massive undertaking, but we can’t wait to find out who lands the gig.
This is far from the first time that one of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest minds has attempted to tackle the behemoth from King’s collection, with The Stand previously already having received the miniseries treatment two times over, as well as a vibrant telling thanks to Marvel Comics. However, should Liman’s feature-length take come to fruition, he’ll have done what others, including George A. Romero and David Yates, have been unable to. Although one might think a cinematic series would be the way to go when roping the many tales of The Stand into a big-screen project, it’s been reported that Liman and Paramount Pictures plan to condense it into one feature.
Anyone who’s read any of King’s books will know that the attention to character detail and universe building is what keeps readers coming back for more. In his longest book, King builds a wild world with multitudes of characters, each of whom has plenty of pages dedicated to their stories. The tale centers around the fallout in America after a virus devastated the population, with King penning plenty of unique perspectives and voices into the piece, which was first published in 1978.
What Else Does Stephen King Have On the Way?
With adaptations coming out the ears, the world certainly isn’t hurting for more page-to-screen reworkings of King’s material — but we’re beyond happy to have them. Over the last year, we’ve seen Max drop its long-awaited Salem’s Lot film, while Longlegs director, Osgood Perkins, took audiences on the silly yet gore-filled adventure of life lessons in The Monkey. Currently, King’s short story, The Life of Chuck, is charming theater-goers, while his much darker work, The Long Walk, will receive a cinematic release in the fall. Beyond that, Mike Flanagan (The Life of Chuck, Doctor Sleep) is re-teaming with the writer to bring audiences a fresh episodic take on Carrie courtesy of Prime Video and is also taking on a daunting task of his own as he works to bring The Dark Tower back to screens.
via Collider