We've known for some time now that Ben Affleck was interested in bringing Stephen King's novel, The Stand, to the big screen. Well, now that Affleck just landed the role of Batman in Zack Snyder's MAN OF STEEL sequel, Warner Bros. had to turn to someone else to helm the daunting adaptation. The new man for the job is CRAZY HEART director Scott Cooper who will also re-write the script that David Kajganich recently worked on. While I'm a bit disappointed to see Affleck step down from the directing gig, I'm just happy to see this one is still moving along!
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.
While we still don't know how they plan on bringing the novel to life, it was once said that they were aiming to split it up with multiple films. With how detailed the story is and its multiple characters, I think the only way to do King's brilliant novel justice would be to make it a trilogy. Scott Cooper did a solid job with CRAZY HEART and his upcoming thriller OUT OF THE FURNACE looks pretty damn good as well. Once we get more on this one we'll be sure to throw it your way!