Summary
For nearly five decades now,Stephen Kingadaptations have been brought to screens both big and small on a seemingly yearly basis. From the incredible (The Shining,The Shawshank Redemption,Stand By Me) to the adequate (The Mist,1408,Christine), from the forgettable (Secret Window,Apt Pupil,Mr. Harrigan’s Phone) to the reprehensible (The Dark Tower,Graveyard Shift,Cell), fans of King’s work have certainly had their share over the years.
To illustrate just how manyStephen Kingadaptations we’ve gotten, take this in: 2025 alone is getting five separate King adaptations. You read that correctly.The MonkeyandThe Life of Chuckhave already hit theaters in 2025,The Long WalkandThe Running Manare set to release theatrically later this year, andThe Institutetelevision series is set to hit MGM+ in July. It turns out, when you’ve written 60+ novels and 200+ short stories, as Stephen King has, there is plenty of material for Hollywood to adapt. TheStephen King adaptation train never stops, as a third live-action adaptation of his 1978 novelThe Standis currently in the works withEdge of Tomorrow’s Doug Liman attached to direct.Unless Liman’sThe Standends up being one of the longest Hollywood films released in decades, there is ostensibly no way this will work out well.
The StandIs Often Considered Stephen King’s Magnum Opus
With The Utmost Apologies ToThe Dark Tower
First released in 1978,The Standhas become one of the most legendary works inStephen King’s extensive bibliography.The first edition of the book ran an impressive 823 pages. TheComplete & Uncut Editionof the book, released in 1990, beefed the story up to 1,152 pages. The updated 1990 version of the story also changed the order of the chapters, bumped the story’s setting forward ten years, and altered cultural references made in the original text.The Standis a post-apocalyptic tale with a large cast of characters, which King claims was inspired by the epic nature of J.R.R. Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings.
In the novel, more than 99% of humanity is killed off by a mutated strain of influenza inadvertently released upon the world by the United States' Department of Defense.As one would expect, societal structures completely collapse, and everything goes to the dogs.It’s a rather complicated tale surrounding the themes of good and evil, but King fans will remember it best for introducing Randall Flagg to the masses.Flagg (aka. Walter o’Dim, The Dark Man, and a host of other names) is perhaps best known asthe main antagonist ofThe Dark Towerseries, but has also shown up in various King stories likeThe Eyes of the DragonandHearts in Atlantisas well.
The First Two Adaptations OfThe StandDidn’t Do The Novel Justice
It Turns Out Famous Faces Aren’t Everything
The Standhas been adapted into a television miniseries twice, first in 1994 for ABC and second in 2020 for Paramount+ (then known as CBS All Access).1994’s adaptation wasa huge to-do at the time, with King himself writing the four-episode screenplay. The series had a $26 million budget and featured an all-star cast that included Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Kathy Bates, Miguel Ferrer, and Laura San Giacomo (among many others). Although the reviews for the series were somewhat mixed, almost 20 million people watched all four episodes, and the series was nominated for six Primetime Emmys, ultimately winning two.
The 2020 series ran for nine episodes and was a similarly bombastic production featuring a smattering of big Hollywood names. With names like James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgård, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Kinnear, J. K. Simmons, Amber Heard, Ezra Miller, and Heather Graham,The Standshould’ve been a major moment for Paramount+. It’s clearthat the fledgling streaming service feltThe Standcould have been theirStranger ThingsorSquid Game,which would havefueled subscription numbers and garnered internet hype. Instead, it came and went without much muss or fuss.
Doug Liman Is An Immensely Talented Director, ButThe StandCan’t Be Squeezed Into A Two-Hour Runtime
He’s Not The First Director Hired To FilmThe Stand
With the news coming out that Paramount Pictures hasbrought Doug Liman on board a feature film adaptationofThe Stand, one can’t help but wonder just how the winding story with dozens upon dozens of characters will be compressed into a runtime that’ll be fit for theatrical distribution.This is a particularly difficult nut to crack, and several directors have tried it in the past. Everyone from George A. Romero and David Yates to Ben Affleck and Scott Cooper has taken a swing at bringingThe Standto multiplexes around the world.
It’s unsurprising that Romero (developer of low-to-mid-budget horror films) and Cooper (a prestige drama director) would struggle with studio mandates about the project, but if Yates and Affleck, two men obviously familiar with big budgets and the expectations that come with them, can’t hack it, what luck does Liman have? His filmography has some bona fide bangers likeEdge of TomorrowandThe Bourne Identity, but he has also helmed a couple of failed franchise-starters in 2008’sJumperand 2021’sChaos Walking.
At the end of the day, it comes down to Liman and Paramount finding a writer who can (somehow) whittleThe Standdown into a manageable screenplay. This is something that hasn’t happened in over four decades, and not for a lack of trying.The Standhas been consideredan unfilmable bookfor years now, at least when it comes to condensing the story into one film. PerhapsThe Standwill become a beloved blockbuster film sometime down the line, but it seems quite unlikely.
