Finally, we get a release date for The Stand, CBS All Access’ adaptation of Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic epic.
Is now the right time for a show about a virus that wipes out most of humanity and leaves the survivors to fight an epic battle that decides whether the good or the evil will inherit the Earth? And if not, will December be the right time?
That’s what CBS All Access is hoping, because its new miniseries based on the Stephen King epic The Stand premieres on December 17.
We also got a poster:
Image: The Stand/CBS All Access
The Stand, as mentioned, is about a plague that nearly wipes out the human species, which is a…touchy subject at the moment. We follow a wide cast of characters as they pick up the pieces. On one side, you’ve folks like Texan Stu Redman (James Marsden) and pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young), all of whom are drawn to Boulder, Colorado by the mysterious Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg), who presides over a new community of good-hearted survivors.
On the other side, you’ve got Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård), who might be a literal demon, and who gathers his evil followers in Las Vegas, because where else? It all builds to a giant clash at the end.
The Stand has been adapted before, by ABC in 1994, when it starred the likes of Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald. This time around, King is more involved, and even wrote the final of nine episodes, adding a new coda to the story.
And in case you’re wondering, yes, the producers are aware that the timing of the new show is a little odd. “During the two years we spent making The Stand, we all felt the responsibility of adapting what may be the most beloved work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, but none of us could have imagined that Stephen King’s 40-year-old masterpiece about a global pandemic would come to be so eerily relevant,” said showrunner Benjamin Cavell. “We’re honored to tell this sprawling, epic story, including a new coda that Stephen King has wanted to add for decades. We’re so proud of this show and its attempt to find meaning and hope in the most uncertain of times. We can’t wait to share it with the world.”
We’ll see if people have the appetite for this kind of thing come December.
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