Warner Bros. has found another director to take over their long gestating Stephen King’s The Stand adaptation. The new man is Josh Boone, who has a young adult adaptation The Fault in Our Stars coming out later this year. The good news is that Boone has experience directing an adaptation. The bad news is that Stephen King’s The Stand is very much NOT a young adult novel.
Here are the facts. Stephen King’s The Stand is a very violent book, with very disturbing themes and ideas. If it becomes just another fight between good and evil on the big screen, that will be a huge disappointment.
And I am worried.
Ben Affleck was on the project first, and he probably would have made it too if not for Batman vs. Superman. After Affleck left, Warner Bros. hired Scott Cooper, who left when the two sides disagreed on how the movie should be made. Cooper wanted an R-rated movie and Warner Bros. plans to release it as PG-13.
So, now Warner Bros. has a guy who has directed a chick flick (Stuck in Love) and a young adult adaptation to direct it. Yeah, this isn’t going to be the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand that I was hoping for as a huge fan of the book (it’s my favorite King novel). If there is anything good coming out of this, it is that Josh Boone is apparently a Stephen King fan, because he is also attached to adapt King’s novel, Lisey’s Story.
Should I be worried about Stephen King’s The Stand? Chime in below with your thoughts.