Growing up, I took in many viewings of the mini-series adaptation of Stephen King's epic novel The Stand that was directed by Mick Garris and first aired in 1994. (You can pick up a copy of that mini-series HERE.) I watched it again earlier this month, and it was like revisiting old friends. Now there's a new, nine part limited series adaptation coming our way, and while it's going to be weird for me to see different actors in the roles of the characters I love and love to hate, I'm such a fan of the source material that I'm also getting very excited to see the story get brought to life again.
Vanity Fair has gotten their hands on a batch of images that give us our first look at several of the characters. These images can be seen below and feature Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail, Alexander Skarsgård as Randall Flagg, Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith, Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, Nat Wolff as Lloyd Henreid, Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, and Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor.
King's novel (which you can buy HERE) has the following synopsis:
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides — or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail — and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.
Also in the cast are James Marsden as Stu Redman, Amber Heard as Nadine Cross, Greg Kinnear as Glen Bateman, Henry Zaga as Nick Andros, Brad William Henke as Tom Cullen, Katherine McNamara as Julie Lawry, Hamish Linklater as Dr. Ellis, Eion Bailey as Teddy Weizak, Daniel Sunjata as Cobb, Fiona Dourif as the Rat Woman, and Natalie Martinez and Marilyn Manson in unspecified roles.
The scripts for the episodes have been written by Josh Boone, Benjamin Cavell, Jill Killington, and King's son Owen King. Stephen King has also written a new ending for the story that will go beyond the events of the book and make up a substantial part of the final episode.
Boone, director of the upcoming Marvel Comics adaptation THE NEW MUTANTS, directed the first episode. In addition to sharing the character photos, Vanity Fair also conducted an interview with showrunners Benjamin Cavell and Taylor Elmore, who revealed that the story will play out in a non-linear fashion – when it starts, the world will have already been stricken by the plague, and then we'll find out character back stories through flashbacks.
The Stand is being produced by CBS Television Studios. Boone and Cavell are executive producing the show with Roy Lee, Jimmy Miller, and Richard P. Rubinstein. Will Weiske and Miri Yoon are co-executive producers, and Knate Lee, Jill Killington, and Owen King are producers.
Filming on the show had to shut down four days early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's still expected to arrive on CBS All Access by the end of this year.