Buttmunker

Looking at the back cover of the original 1970's paperback of Stephen King's "The Stand," it said that George Romero was making it into a major motion picture. Obviously, that fell through for any number of reasons, but the question now remains: if some big time film director decided to take the helms, would a theatrical version of The Stand be worthwhile?

In 1994, they had the TV mini-series of The Stand starring Gary Sinise as Stu Redman and Jamie Sheridan as Randall Flagg, and it was as good as it could be for a TV mini-series, but it had its weak moments. A big-budget adaption would bring much to the table, but could we really see those characters played by other actors? Would it play well if the original actors from the TV series were recast in their roles?

GoldenJCJ

My only problem with a new theatrical version being made, is that it would be sooo much shorter (I mean the miniseries was about 6 hours and the book was roughly 1200 pages). I would find it hard to believe that they could make a coherent version of The Stand that was around 2 hours in length.

I agree that the TV miniseries has its weak moments but IMO it probably can't be beat in staying close to the source material.

Buttmunker

Most epic films run over two hours in length, sometimes over three hours in length. And they could always make a sequel to keep all the source material intact.

cultshock

I remember hearing that Romero was going to direct the adaptation ( one of my favourite books) and was looking forward to it.
The book is so epic, there is no way anything under 5 or 6 hours could do justice to it. The TV series wasn't perfect, but I still think it is one of the best adaptations of a King novel. I was very pleasantly surprised when it first aired (I was expecting it to suck, and being such a big fan of the book, I was watching it very critically).

joliom

I didn't like the tv mini-series very much (a lot better than It, though) so I wouldn't mind seeing someone take a second crack at it. But I agree with the others about the time constraints - a 2-3 hour movie just wouldn't do it justice, and it would have to be pretty darn exciting to get people to come back for a Part II ala Lord of the Rings. What would be cooler is an HBO or Showtime big budget mini-series. That way they could more liberal with the language, sex, and gore. If it was successful enough, they could try It and the Dark Tower series as well.

darinart1

My favorite book by King.I truely don't see how it could be made even at 4 hours long.If they just made a movie of Trash can man I would check it out

harosa

Forget the Stand, get Darabont's ass working on The Mist already!

necros

I think if they did it LOTR style and filmed the whole thing at once, and then released it as 2 3-hour long movies it could work. Maybe the first one would focus more on the plague and the second on the good vs evil stuff. I like the miniseries though. It has a few slow spots but overall I think it's still great.

Goldberg74

I like the miniseries, I take it with on every plane trip I take. Watch parts 1 and 2 on the way there, watch parts 3 and 4 on the way back.

Sunday Morning

The stand isn't very well directed. It's a t.v. movie.
But it was well written. The characters were fleshed out
pretty well. Although some of the casting decisions weren't too hot. Sinise was good, of course.

If it were a theatrical film, it would probably suffer because it would have to be a lot shorter in length, but it would be well directed and the suspense pieces would probably be a lot more effective and i'm sure it would've attracted an A list cast.

But...

etc. etc.

There will never be a perfect version of a stephen king adaptation.

Probably why I like sleepwalkers so much. It is perfect. He didn't adapt it.

Buttmunker

I thought Stand By Me, based on King's novella The Body, was perfect. And Misery. And The Shawshank Redemption. And The Green Mile.

renaldow

Jamie Sheridan should have to play Randall Flagg in any of the movies featuring that character, IMHO. Not that I find him to be a great actor, but the character appears so many times throughout King's books, it would just be kind of cool to have the same guy play him in all of the movie adaptations.

I'd read the Stand years ago when it first came out, long before the miniseries or the 'additional' pages were edited back in. I bet I have the same edition as yours, saying Romero was going to make a movie. I'll try to look for it later just for fun, it's something that I completely missed before.

I thought the miniseries was a fairly good adaptation, and while some things were changed slightly it really wasn't anything that had me up in arms. At the time I think it was the best they could do with what they had. Comparatively, 'It' was OK, but not done nearly as well.

Standy By Me and Shawshank Redemption were fairly close adaptations, but there was also a lot less material to try and squeeze into a movie than a regular King novel. A King novel usually goes 600 or so pages, one of his short stories (call them a novella if you will just based on length alone) is 'only' about 150-200, sometimes more or less. I think the reason these stories seem more viewer friendly in the movie medium is that King internalizes the characters a lot less, and we don't know them as well. By the time you come out of a King novel you feel you know the main characters intimately. The short stories, you don't know them as well, are less connected and have a lot less time invested in them when you are through.

Buttmunker

Flagg is supposed to be eternal. Jamie Sheridan is slowly but surely turning into an old fart-knocker.

JaxComet

I've always liked the mini-series but I think the limitations of TV didn't allow it to be the best it could be....

Shoveler

I used to subscribe to "Castle Rock", the SK newsletter. It contained a fair amount of inside information (if I remember correctly, it was published by SK's personal secrectary/assistant). There were numerous updates on the status of the screenplay for the Stand. One of the terms in the sale of the rights was that SK would write the screenplay. The first screenplay came in at something like 1200 pages (don't remember the exact number), but given the standard "page/hour" rule of thumb, it would have made an 8 hour movie. So he worked it down to a screenplay that would have made a 6 hour movie. He worked some more, but at that point I started to hope that he would simply give it up, or that it would be made as a mini-series instead. I'm fairly happy with the finished work, there have been far worse adaptations of SK books.

paradicelost

I've only read a handful of King's books. Usually after the fact of seeing the film. I think Thinner was the only one i read before hand and that was because i knew they were making the film. But what other stories has Randall Flag been in.

Alien Redrum

The Eyes of the Dragon
The Dark Tower Series

Alien Redrum

Oh yeah, and I would definitely not want to see a movie made.

I'm all for an HBO or Showtime mini series event. But no way a movie.

Plus, I don't think it could be done LOTR style. I don' t think the Stand has the appeal LOTR does.

Shoveler

This page should answer your question pretty nicely. The main appearances that I remember are as himself in DT4, and as the magician Flagg in "Eyes of the Dragon" (which I always considered to be kind of a fairy tale written in Roland the Gunslinger's world).

The thing is that a large number of King's books have direct ties to the Dark Tower stories.

Buttmunker

That's because LOTR is recommended reading in schools, and Stephen King books are not. Some day, when King is long dead, there will be a huge turnaround and respect will be given to King's stories, and they may be used in English class much like The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is today and yesterday.

Fok

I wouldn't mind seeing a movie made on the Dark Tower series or the Talisman.

Michael Corvin

I agree on all accounts but Shawshank. The movie was far superior in many ways, and only weak in one:

I prefer King's ending to the movie version. It makes you think.


But I do love that movie.