Josh Boone developing The Stand as 10 hour limited series?

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Someday, director Josh Boone is going to be finished working on THE NEW MUTANTS. The making of that "full fledged horror movie" set within the world of the X-MEN franchise has turned out to be a much greater ordeal than expected, with the release being delayed sixteen months to accommodate the massive reshoots required to add in characters and increase the horror quotient… an endeavor that may bring the finished product closer to Boone's original vision for it, after 20th Century Fox had apparently had him water his vision down to "young adult" level.

Whatever the story is behind the scenes of THE NEW MUTANTS (and how much does it even matter when Disney will be taking over Fox around the time the movie is finally released, allowing Marvel Studios access to the X-Men properties?), Boone already has plans for projects beyond this messy one.

Most notable is the epic adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel THE STAND that he has been developing for over four years at this point. In an article on THE NEW MUTANTS, Tracking-Board dropped in a very interesting rumor about the current status of THE STAND: 

(Boone is) still attached to direct an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, which we hear is coming together as a ten-hour limited series at CBS All Access.

Boone's THE STAND had at one time been expected to be a single three hour film, but it has been gradually expanding since then. Boone was planning to turn it into a four film epic, then there was talk that there could be an eight-part miniseries that would lead into a feature film, and now we have this rumor of it being a ten-hour limited series (which is basically the same as an eight-part miniseries leading into a feature).

THE STAND was previously adapted into a four-part miniseries directed by Mick Garris that aired on ABC in 1994. When you remove commercials, that adaptation was six hours long.

The story: 

Enter a near future of a horrifically plague-ravaged Earth where a fraction of its population survives, compelling them to choose sides between the overwhelming forces of good and evil. Millions perish, and as small, isolated frightened bands unite, the answers to their perpetual questions to justify this end of civilization are bared in their dreams – revelations that urge some to embrace a path of virtue and others to gravitate towards a sinister course of darkness. As the opposing forces separate into two camps – one led by the saintly Mother Abigail and the other demonic Randall Flagg – the noble elements try to shield themselves from their corrupt enemy, whose ruthless potency is increased by their domination of an excavated nuclear warhead. Their extreme clash of wills makes it inevitable that these remnants of humanity will soon engage in a final confrontation – The Stand – an immense and atrocious battle which could result in annihilating the power of good and hurdle the fate of the planet into the reins of evil. 

I love the story of THE STAND and the airing of that first miniseries in '94 was a major event in my life. I would gladly go back to that world for another ten hours, so I really hope Boone does get his limited series adaptation made.