The Stand Directed by Josh Boone - Now 4 Movies (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

For those of us that like or treasure the book, any further thoughts?

Over the last few years, I've been reading or re-reading all of King's books in chronological order (I'm up to the end of the end of the 1980's) and The Stand is, far and away, my favorite book by him so I'm excited to see this happen. My only 'fear' is that Warners has delusions about how much an R rated movie can make and when it doesn't happen, they'll drastically cut the budget or pull the plug on the other movies. If they have the same moronic expectations that they had for Watchmen and they spend $300 million between the movie and the ad campaign, they're not going to turn a profit.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I hear you Travis.

Funnily enough when Boone pitched them on a 3 hour adaptation, the budget was worked out to around $87 million. Warner actually wanted to up the budget to include some big action set pieces - which they feel is essential for being successful in foreign markets - but Boone balked and said The Stand is not that kind of movie. It's a big sprawling collection of character pieces. Apparently Warner liked Boone's take so much they came back with the multiple movie offer! LOL

Can't recommend listening to the Kevin Smith interview highly enough. It's very illuminating about Boone's sensibilities about King related adaptations.

PS Travis - and all King fans - Richard Chizmar from Cemetery Dance is re-reading all King's books and posting his thoughts at:

Stephen King Revisted

He has done Carrie and Salem's Lot so far. Check it out. Bev Vincent - a noted King expert - is also posting background articles detailing how each book came to be. Plus! There's a contest to win signed King books and more for following along!

 

[Ejanss]

The Dark Tower would have made a better movie series (if done right)..

The Stand movie they made with Garry Sinese wasn't too bad..

Unless it's badly bungled--and can't think of a King movie that's been that bad, not even Cujo or Dark Half--life's too short to film Stephen King twice. (Or Carrie three times.) Okay, Kubrick might have fooled around with The Shining, but not so badly that it would have merited another bigscreen version outside of TV.
The Stand miniseries covered the basics, and Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe and Bill Fagerbakke pretty much nailed it.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Have to be honest though, if I had my druthers a Dark Tower movies series would be my preference. But hey this Stand remake may pave the way for a Dark Tower movie series!

Or put a nail in its coffin..

Last I read the Dark Tower movie was going to have Roland played by Javier Bardem(!!!), so I'm glad that fell through..

Anyone else feel SK lost his way after Wizard and Glass? My feeling is the accident that nearly killed him made him want to hurry up and finish off the the DT series before he died.. He didn't wait patiently until inspiration struck so wonderfully for all the books before, and it shows (killing this all powerful Crimson King we've feared for so long with... an eraser.. Gadzooks!!).

I haven't seen the TV miniseries of the Stand for ages.. Loved the 'Don't Fear the Reaper' intro.. It covers a multitude of sins.. I thought Ray Walston was the only casting mis-step.. He was who I had in my head for Salem's Lot, so I was sick of seeing him in the old guy role for another SK novel..

I've heard the movie for Salem's Lot is quite bad (the original and the recent one), so I've stayed away from both so as not to contaminate the reading experience (a genuine thriller).. Same for the Cujo movie (I cry like a baby reading that, every time, especially when my kids were younger).

Kubrick misread what the Shining was all about, in my opinion.. He made a decent ghost story.. But it wasn't what the book was about (this one wrecks me as well, for the same reason)..

But I digress..

 

[joshEH]

I guess, in theory, I don't mind this. There's at least 8 hours' worth of material in the book, and I'm all for a near-page-for-page adaptation, but...I know Boone says he doesn't want to do an "actiony" version of The Stand, but if WB is looking to make a tentpole franchise out of this, doesn't it kinda have to be?

I mean, if you're the studio, you want people returning to the theater four separate times, right? I would LOVE IT if audiences embraced a four-part franchise where the middle two movies were mostly character stuff and dialogue, but I just don't see this happening; not in today's current big-studio blockbuster climate.

 

[Ejanss]

Anyone else feel SK lost his way after Wizard and Glass? My feeling is the accident that nearly killed him made him want to hurry up and finish off the the DT series before he died.. He didn't want to wait patiently until inspiration struck so wonderfully for all the books beforehand, and it shows..

I left off the cliffhanger at the end of Drawing of the Three, and never got around to picking it up again, but think it was around W&G that the series was thrown off by King's brief Lifetime Network fling with "Persecuted feminist survivor" stories, circa Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne. Those weren't happy times.
And yes, by the time he not only Mary-Janed himself into the series and killed himself off, personal issues after the accident had just thrown the entire series off the rails. Now we'll never know what point he was trying to make going in.

I've heard the movie for Salem's Lot is quite bad (the original and the recent one), so I've stayed away from both so as not to contaminate the reading experience (a genuine thriller).. Same for the Cujo movie (I cry like a baby reading that, every time, especially when my kids were younger).

Cujo was low-budget rushed out in the '83 gold rush while the rushing was hot, but it's too literal to the text--
The suggestion in the book is that the dog was somehow channeling some evil spirit, but that's completely gone from the movie, and all we're left with is the fact that you simply CAN'T make a Bernie look scary onscreen, no matter how much rabid slobber you pile on him. Sooner or later, it's going to look like Killer Beethoven.

I guess, in theory, I don't mind this. There's at least 8 hours' worth of material in the book, and I'm all for a near-page-for-page adaptation, but...I know Boone says he doesn't want to do an "actiony" version of The Stand, but if WB is looking to make a tentpole franchise out of this, doesn't it kinda have to be?

I mean, you want people returning to the theater four separate times? I would LOVE IT if audiences embraced a four-part franchise where the middle two movies were mostly character stuff and dialogue, but I just don't see this happening; not in today's current big-studio blockbuster climate.

Warner's already got their own problem at the moment with a book being "actioned up" more than the text, just so they can have the same LOTR bragging rights of an annual tentpole movie by the clock for the next few years.
And judging from the franchise we've got now, it doesn't improve on the text. (Especially not if the defense for going in is "We're going to be more faithful to the book this time, because we're longer!")

Basically, Boone wants the defense of "There's so much in the book, it deserves more time and attention", and that didn't quite work for Harry Potter and Twilight's first "thoughtful" setup Part I's either. Whether that also turns out true for Hunger Games' text-comprehensive Part I, we'll find out this weekend.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Interesting thoughts everyone. Thanks for sharing and keep'em coming.

I do a Stephen King podcast over at Lilja's Library and this news will be a big topic for discussion. Great to have as wide of spectrum of opinions about it as possible.

Doug - as someone who has watched Cujo and both versions of Salem's Lot, I feel Cujo is worth watching for a powerhouse performance by Dee Wallace alone. It's a flawed adaptation but for the most part, a good one.

The Rob Lowe version of Salem's Lot is an abomination.

The original Tobe Hooper version of Salem's Lot is quite good. It's dated to be sure and there's no way I can divorce myself from how I felt about back then - and still do continue to feel about it to this date. This and the first Night Stalker movie where my one-two horror TV horror flicks growing up. So I quite like it. James Mason is blast to watch as Straker. There is one scene he has with character actor - Kenneth McMillan - where is deliciously and dryly - having to do with dry cleaning BTW! - chilling. And the Danny Glick window sequences are still very effective today. But it's definitely dated now.

As for The Dark Tower I quite liked how it played out. And King's maryjaning himself into the story - never killed himself off though - leads to one of the most emotionally devastating sequences in the series. I loved the marriage of fiction and reality in that sequence.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

As for The Dark Tower I quite liked how it played out. And King's maryjaning himself into the story - never killed himself off though - leads to one of the most emotionally devastating sequences in the series. I loved the marriage of fiction and reality in that sequence.

I liked how Eddie, Susanah and Jake end up

Spoiler

in the alternate universe, I like how well done Eddie's and then Jake's deaths are written.. Very touching..

But I disliked the Crimson King duex ex machina, SK writing himself into the book, and what happened when Roland finally gets to the Dark Tower (I get it, it works, but a let down).

I would like to see how it gets cast.. I can't think of who I would like to see playing these characters..

Btw I spent the rest of the books after W of G hoping we could get another flashback.. I was SO hoping to read what happened at Jericho Hill!!

But getting back to the Stand (sorry).....

 

[Stan]

Agree on both counts Doug. I'm positive The Dark Tower will see the light of day in some form of screen adaptation. I loved the idea of doing 3 movies with TV seasons in between to fill out the character beats in between. The sticker with that series is how to film all the material in a time period that can accommodate keeping the age of Jake to around 10 - 12. It's vital to the story that Jake is not aged up at all.

The 1994 mini-series of The Stand is not too bad but it hasn't aged well and its cheapness becomes more apparent with each passing year. Plus casting was a mixed bag - Gary Sinise as Stu Redman was a great choice. As was Bill Fagerbakke as Tom Cullen. I even liked Rob Lowe as Nick Andros. Matt Frewer was excellent as The Trashcan Man - Cibola! Cibola! My life for you! Miguel Ferrer, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee were solid too. Biggest miscasting was the actor who played Harold Lauder. A pivotal role that needed an actor capable of capturing the internal struggle of that character. I was also less impressed with Molly Ringwald and Laura San Giacomo.

But it's been more than 20 years and with the technology available today and a world that laps up a show like The Walking Dead, the environment for a updated version of The Stand is ripe.

Have to be honest though, if I had my druthers a Dark Tower movies series would be my preference. But hey this Stand remake may pave the way for a Dark Tower movie series!

Thoroughly enjoyed the 1994 mini-series, but like everything now, guess it's time for a remake.

The guy who played Harold was a terrible choice, hopefully things will be better this time. I actually liked Molly Ringwald, but agree with you about Laura San Giacomo, she was really awful. And the guy who played Flagg really took me out of the show, he was just so wrong.But the mini-series got it right in so many ways, still a favorite of mine, even with so many continuity errors. With the new technology available today, looking forward to this, they just need to cast the right actors.

 

[dpippel]

The Stand really needs the freedom of a decent budget and being produced as a film or cable miniseries to be completely effective. I never liked the TV adaptation with Sinise because of the budgetary and content restrictions it was saddled with. It felt an awful lot like an after-school special to me. And as for The Dark Tower, bring it on! No reason that BOTH can't see the light of day.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Word is Matthew McConaughey is up for Randal Flagg. I think that would be perfect casting.

 

[dpippel]

While I'll admit that he could probably pull off the right combination of charm and menace, I for one am fast reaching McConaughey burn-out. I'd much rather see them give another actor, maybe even an unknown, the chance to play Flagg.

 

[Richard V]

Word is Matthew McConaughey is up for Randal Flagg.I think that would be perfect casting.

I could see Brad Pitt as well.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I picture Chiwetel Ejiofor in The Walking Dude role especially based on his work in Serenity.