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Old 02-01-11, 06:11 PM
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Stephen King's The Stand (CBS All Access) - D: Josh Boone

Stephen King's 'The Stand' Heading to the Big Screen (Exclusive)
8:27 PM 1/31/2011 by Borys Kit

Stephen King's grand opus The Stand is finally getting the big-screen treatment.

Warner Bros. and CBS Films are teaming to adapt the novel, which in many ways set the bar for a generation of post-apocalyptic stories and influenced works ranging from TV's Lost to music group Anthrax.

Mosaic and Roy Lee are producing.

The companies will co-develop and co-produce the feature film, with CBS having the option to participate in co-financing. Warners will handle worldwide marketing and distribution.

The studios and producers will sit down with writers and directors in the coming weeks in an attempt to find the right take on the material. One thing to be determined is whether to attempt the adaptation in one or multiple movies. King will be involved in some capacity.

CBS has held the rights for many years but recently realized the best way to undertake the project was with a partner. Warners beat out Fox and Sony in a tight bidding war for the gig, getting its hands on one of the biggest-selling books of all time.

CBS, meanwhile, gets a chance to be involved in an ambitious big-budget tentpole with little downside. The company just released its fourth movie, The Mechanic, which performed better than expected this weekend with an opening of $11.4 million.

The Stand is a story of good vs. evil after a virus wipes out most of the American population. While it features dozens of characters (such as the Trashcan Man and Mother Abigail) and overlapping story lines running over many years, the struggle boils down to a group of survivors fighting the Antichrist-like Randall Flagg.

The novel was originally published in 1978, but by the time it was rereleased in 1990 with King adding and revising portions of the story, it had achieved cult-like status.

George Romero and Warners separately tried in vain to launch a movie adaptation in the 1980s, and a tone-downed version was produced as a six-hour miniseries by ABC in 1994. In recent years, Marvel Comics has been adapting the story to great acclaim.

King's stories made for popular Hollywood adaptations in the 1980s and '90s, but that love seemed to lose steam in the past decade. But with Universal mounting an ambitious take on The Dark Tower, and now The Stand, King may be getting ready to return to the throne as the novelist the town loves the most.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blo...ding-big-94805
I read the book for the first time last summer and absolutely loved it. Then I watched the miniseries. Friends braced me for it being fair-to-bad, but it was still a let down. Some of the casting I liked (Gary Sinise as Stu, Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg, Bill Fagerbakke as Tom), but those were overshadowed by the really terrible miscasts (Molly Ringwald as Frannie, Corin Nemec as Harold), bad effects, and truncated story. Even though it was made in four parts, it didn't feel epic at all.

IMO to do the story justice, a long HBO/Showtime miniseries would be a better fit, but I could live with multiple movies (should they go that route). I'm just glad that they're taking another stab at it.
Old 02-01-11, 06:18 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

I remember watching the mini-series when it first came out and in retrospect, pretty much agree. I liked the performances of Sinise and Sheridan, but overall it just felt too much like a made for TV movie.

The one thing I remember most was how about two months after the mini, Sinise appeared as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump and being completely floored by his performance (Pulp Fiction hadn't been released yet).
Old 02-01-11, 08:54 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by Dr. DVD
I remember watching the mini-series when it first came out and in retrospect, pretty much agree. I liked the performances of Sinise and Sheridan, but overall it just felt too much like a made for TV movie.

The one thing I remember most was how about two months after the mini, Sinise appeared as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump and being completely floored by his performance (Pulp Fiction hadn't been released yet).
Gary Sinise was in Pulp Fiction?
Old 02-01-11, 09:22 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

I like the miniseries, despite its shortcomings. I'm not against a big-screen film, but I hope it's better than most other King adaptations.
Old 02-01-11, 09:33 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

I didn't think the cast for The Stand miniseries was bad, but the whole thing looked like it was shot on a VHS camcorder.

Didn't quite buy Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg, though, but that character's going to be a bitch to cast in any production.
Old 02-01-11, 09:44 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

While I liked both the book and the miniseries, how is a theatrical movie going to be better? The miniseries was 6 hours long. Are they making two 3+ hour movies? This is something that HBO or Showtime should be making as a 1 season series. 16 episodes to tell the entire story should be more then enough.
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Old 02-01-11, 09:58 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

For me personally, the only thing that was remotely good about the Stand is the first portion, The Plague, due to how scary of a thought it is. Everything else from that point is downhill, especially the literal Deus-Ex-Machina ending.
Old 02-02-11, 12:50 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by PopcornTreeCt
Gary Sinise was in Pulp Fiction?
I think he meant that Sinise in Gump was the best supporting performance until he saw Sam L. Jackson in Pulp.

Anyhow, I loved the book and felt the miniseries wasn't too bad although it didn't (couldn't?) really capture the epic feel of the book. I can't imagine how it can be chopped down into a coherent theatrical release.

The casting was okay, at least it wasn't IT with Jack Tripper, Judge Harry Stone, John-Boy Walton, and Venus Everfucking Flytrap.
Old 02-02-11, 02:41 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by gmanca
For me personally, the only thing that was remotely good about the Stand is the first portion, The Plague, due to how scary of a thought it is. Everything else from that point is downhill, especially the literal Deus-Ex-Machina ending.
Like so many of King's books. That man doesn't know how to end a story.
Old 02-02-11, 09:44 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

I love most of King's endings, particularily that of The Stand. The news of a remake is excellent, as I too don't believe the "epic" miniseries did it justice (it was, in most parts, kinda corny). Between this remake and the remake for It that was mentioned back in 2009, well, I believe we may be in for a great treat (ala The Mist, Shawshank Redemption, and Stand By Me).
Old 02-02-11, 10:23 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

About the only thing that I remember from watching the whole thing when it first aired is three scenes that I thought made great uses of pop songs:

... the initial dollies past the dead in the lab (Don't Fear the Reaper)

... sewing the father's corpse up in a sheet (Don't Dream It's Over)

... exodus from the city (Eve of Destruction, a cliché, but still well done)
Old 02-02-11, 01:58 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

I think there's a great film to be made of The Stand, but if I may be so bold I would suggest a major revision of the story is neccessary first. The book is brilliant. Act one is 600 pages, act two is 400 pages and act three is like 89 pages. It's not just the Deux ex Machina finale that is dissapointing, the whole thing is wrapped up too quickly and in an unsatisfying manner.

Spoilers Ahead: I think King thought too small. When I read the book I expected everything was building up to a Lord of the Rings size final conflict between good and evil on a massive scale (one of King's inspirations was the concept of making LOTR in a contemporary setting). I think a 6 to 9 hour film is possible, but I would expand the third act and make something bigger, more confrontational, more final.
Old 02-02-11, 02:06 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Regarding the ending,
Spoiler:
I was totally surprised and delighted when i first read it back in the mid-80's. I didn't see it coming! I thought Ralph and Larry were goners, then lo and behold, who should show up, but one of Flagg's own misfits, the Trashcan Man himself, signaling the destruction of Flagg in a totally inadvertent fashion.

I thought the end was ironic, to say the least, and since the Old Testament God is a God of sacrifice and blood, it didn't seem inappropriate that God would work it out this way.


Again, I loved the ending, and couldn't think of a better way Stephen King could have ended it.

Last edited by Buttmunker; 02-04-11 at 09:40 AM.
Old 02-02-11, 02:09 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

not to mention how
Spoiler:
King made us think that Stu Redman was going to be the one of the four that would die, since he broke his leg on the journey west, yet he was left behind so he could witness the destruction of Las Vegas and Randall Flagg
Old 02-02-11, 02:54 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Spoiler:
Those things are all fine, the problem with the ending is that it is hurried along. It is covered in only 100 or so pages after 1000 pages of build up. The four men's journey west should be a journey into a dark world, the inverse world of the utopia they built in Boulder. Time should be spent in this world so the reader can see all the evil of Flagg's totalitarian alternative. It's all just rushed along. The nuke coup de grace is okay, but it should be proceeded by some kind of masive conflict. The first portion of the book is massive in scale and truley epic, the finale reads like it was writen with a budget in mind, like "I can't make this ending too big or it will be hard to film." Which, of course, isn't and shouldn't be a factor in a book.

Let's face it the book has a following because of its set up not its conclusion.
Old 02-02-11, 02:57 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Spoiler:
Time should be spent in this world so the reader can see all the evil of Flagg's totalitarian alternative.


But we did see that, all along. King gave us more than mere glimpses into Flagg's world, he dedicated chapters and more chapters to it.
Old 02-02-11, 03:10 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by Buttmunker
not to mention how
Spoiler:
King made us think that Stu Redman was going to be the one of the four that would die, since he broke his leg on the journey west, yet he was left behind so he could witness the destruction of Las Vegas and Randall Flagg
Spoiler:
And that the one dog that happened to survive the plague, just happens to come along and save Stu after he broke his leg. Love it!
Old 02-02-11, 03:12 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by rw2516
Spoiler:
And that the one dog that happened to survive the plague, just happens to come along and save Stu after he broke his leg. Love it!
that was "Divine Intervention," which was rampant throughout the novel.
Old 02-02-11, 06:42 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by Mabuse
Let's face it the book has a following because of its set up not its conclusion.
It does for me. In fact, going through this thread, I couldn't even remember how it all ended, until Buttmunker gave it in a spoiler.
Old 02-02-11, 10:17 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

I have seen the mini-series a few times and I thought it was ok adaptation. I haven't read the book in years. I wonder how it could be adapted in 2 hour movie. I might be wrong but wasn't there also plans for theatrical adaptation of It.
Old 02-03-11, 09:35 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

It would be impossible, IMO, to do this in 2-3 hours, even with everything hurried along, major characters cut out, and motivations made more simplistic. The power of the book is not the plot, but instead the time spent with the horror of the idea and the characters ... two things that cannot be rushed. Heck, memorable characters were even cut out of the mini-series which had a bit of room to breathe ... as noted by the titular reference of this thread to The Kid.
Old 02-03-11, 11:37 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Important question - will Laura San Giacomo's breasts be featured again? Because...hot damn.
Old 02-03-11, 12:03 PM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by Draven
Important question - will Laura San Giacomo's breasts be featured again? Because...hot damn.
Laura San Giacomo's character of "Nadine Cross" was obnoxious and unsympathic, but her breasts were not!
Old 02-04-11, 08:42 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by silentbob007
It would be impossible, IMO, to do this in 2-3 hours, even with everything hurried along, major characters cut out, and motivations made more simplistic. The power of the book is not the plot, but instead the time spent with the horror of the idea and the characters ... two things that cannot be rushed. Heck, memorable characters were even cut out of the mini-series which had a bit of room to breathe ... as noted by the titular reference of this thread to The Kid.
That's pretty much how I feel too. While the mini-series was far from perfect, 6 hours was enough time to at least do justice to most of the major plotlines from the book. I don't see them being able to do that in 2-3 hours.
Old 02-04-11, 09:12 AM
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re: Stephen King's The Stand (2014?)

Originally Posted by gmanca
Everything else from that point is downhill, especially the literal Deus-Ex-Machina ending.
An apocalyptic story of good vs evil in which the bad guys follow an anti-Christ figure, and you're disappointed there was a deus ex machina? And note it's a motivated DEM -- God doesn't just step in for the hell of it; he does it because the heroes show that they're willing to sacrifice themselves. If Larry and the others had said, "Screw this. Look, Flagg, we'll suck your dick, tell you the secrets of Boulder and whatever, just don't kill us," God would not have intervened.


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