Depending on how cynical your sense of humor, you will consider now to be either the worse or the perfect time for CBS All Access to release its TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's apocalyptic thriller The Stand. Well, regardless of how you feel, the star-studded adaptation is coming, with a brand-new trailer teasing what audiences can expect when good battles evil for humanity's soul.
The trailer is somewhat more action packed than what has been released already and gives us a more of an idea of the storyline as opposed to just teasing the ominous atmosphere that is sure to be draped over proceedings. The footage shows Sonic the Hedgehog's James Marsden and the residents of the Boulder Free Zone gearing up to go against the Dark Man, the embodiment of pure evil who has appeared in several of King's novels.
The official synopsis for The Stand is as follows; "Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, CBS All Access's The Stand stars Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, Odessa Young, Jovan Adepo, and many more. The limited event series will also feature an all-new coda written by Stephen King."
The series is set to feature a large, all-star cast which includes, James Marsden as protagonist Stu Redman, Alexander Skarsgård as the villainous Randall Flagg AKA The Dark Man, Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail, a 108-year-old psychic and "opposite" to The Dark Man, Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith, who discovers she's pregnant right before the plague breaks out, Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, an insecure guy who has a crush on Frannie, Nat Wolff as Lloyd Henreid, a convict who becomes Flagg's right-hand-man, Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, a musician who has a hit song just as the virus starts killing people, and Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, a lonely woman Larry travels with along the way.
Based on the trailer, The Stand looks exceptionally well cast, particularly in the case of Skarsgård and Goldberg, with his seething charisma making him the perfect nefarious prophet, while Goldberg's natural likeability provides the comfort needed for Mother Abigail.
The Stand creator and director Josh Boone recently revealed that Stephen King's involvement in the upcoming series has been quite substantial, and that the horror author already has written an episode of The Stand which is set after the book's ending. The director further revealed, "...the last episode Stephen King wrote, so we had sort of an hour of original material by Stephen King that was a story set after The Stand. There was a story that he'd always wanted to tell."
The Stand is based on Stephen King's 1978 novel of the same name and will be comprised of a 10-episode miniseries courtesy of CBS All Access. The novel remains one of Stephen King's greatest achievements, and this new take, with all the talent involved, has a good chance of being a very worthy adaptation. The series will be directed, written, and produced by The Fault in our Stars and The New Mutants director Josh Boone. The Stand is set to debut on CBS All Access towards the end of this year on December 17. This comes to us courtesy of CBS All Access.