The Stand movie - how should it be done?

[Chrono85]

So it looks like this dude Scott Cooper will be directing the film adaption of Stephen King's The Stand. This announcement confirms that The Stand movie is still a thing, but it got me wondering if it could work as a single movie. For those of you who have read the book (I suggest you do, if you haven't) you know that it is a very long story, with a large cast of characters, and it moves all around the post-apocalyptic USA. I don't see how it could work as anything less than a trilogy, and probably with each installment being at least 2 hours or longer. Do you guys think that they should move the setting from the early 90's to the present? Who are some good actors for the characters?

 

[publiusr]

The ironic thing is that AMC's Walking Dead actually gave me more of the feeling of reading THE STAND than did the actual made for TV series did...I don't think Darabont did that miniseries.

You would have to omit a lot to make the film work. Movies like The Road came close to capturing the feel of The Stand--and that is what you really want.

Now maybe this makes me an oddball for saying this--but King's sense of American soul is perhaps best found in an unrelated film--the original Vanishing Point.

 

[Dream]

It would work best as a miniseries on cable.

Otherwise, I think they should do a trilogy. First movie is the infection, second movie is rebuilding, and last movie the final confrontation.

 

[Chrono85]

It would work best as a miniseries on cable.

Otherwise, I think they should do a trilogy. First movie is the infection, second movie is rebuilding, and last movie the final confrontation.

Yeah, a well done HBO mini series would be the best route. The novel is already divided into three parts, but the middle part is quite ab it longer than the other two, so they would have to tweak it a bit.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Perhaps they'll give it a better ending this time. And a better middle.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I quite liked the mini-series. It had some rough spots, certainly, but it was very well cast.

I would prefer another mini-series as oppose to a film adaptation. Even the cut edition is too large for a single film (and I prefer the uncut edition).

 

[Galileo7]

Perhaps they'll give it a better ending this time. And a better middle.

Agree.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I'd rather just read it again.

 

[sidious618]

You could even do an ongoing HBO or Showtime show about The Stand. There's a lot there to mine.

 

[SiddFinch1]

I cant see one 2 hour movie working. The miniseries was pretty good overall. I think similar format wools be needed

 

[stj]

The Stand was hardly the first post-apocalyptic story but it is probably one of the earliest widely influential ones. A lot of its imagery has been borrowed, so shortening to a three hour feature is probably best, minimizing the dying and the wandering.

But the most notable thing is that this is possibly the only popular property that could be improved by a little whitewashing.

 

[trevanian]

I remember Rospo Pallenberg (EXORCIST II and other Boorman projects) did a script adaptation for a feature version of THE STAND in the early 80s. Wonder if it is online anywhere?

Around 1980 or so, a friend and I agreed that the first 100-150 pages should be condensed down massively, perhaps into a heavy-duty split-screen sequence that would make up the first reel of the picture. Think the opening sequence in SOYLENT GREEN, if you're old enough to remember that one.

 

[DonIago]

I don't see a 2-3 hour movie version of The Stand being an especially good translation. Too much stuff that I consider worthwhile would have to be cut. Hell, even the miniseries suffered from that. Even some of the Harry Potter movies fell prey to this, and they didn't have nearly as much material to condense. I'm looking at you, Goblet of Fire.

I can see it as either a LOTR-style trilogy of fairly long films, or another miniseries that has a bit more time and a bit fewer network constraints to work with.

Though good luck beating some of the miniseries' casting choices.

 

[propita]

Many years ago, I got about halfway through the book and gave up, something I just don't do on books. But I was sooooo bored! I did like the mini-series. I thought it kept that this was a long term story but dumped the repetition boring part. A lot of characters to introduce, so it's not gong to be short.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Couple of random choices for Randall Flagg: Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton on True Blood), Javier Bardem (probably too big a name)