By Drew Dietsch
| Revealed 12 seconds in the past
Stephen King is my favourite creator. It’s at all times been a fairly good time to be a fan of his works and likewise a large film dork as a result of King’s tales are repeatedly getting studio function variations.
And this 12 months is wanting like an absolute standout for his filmography. My favourite movie of the 12 months up to now is Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, a wild interpretation of King’s quick story of the identical title. We’re additionally getting motion pictures in 2025 primarily based on two of my all-time favourite King novels (written beneath his pseudonym Richard Bachman), The Lengthy Stroll and The Working Man.
And if these movies’ trailers are trustworthy representations of their ultimate merchandise, it’s going to be a banner 12 months for us Fixed Readers.
Which is why the announcement of a brand new movie adaptation of The Stand is arguably the dumbest and most deflating Stephen King film information that would ever occur.
M-O-O-N, That Spells Dumb
Doug Liman has been revealed because the director for a brand new studio movie adaptation of Stephen King’s epic and landmark novel, The Stand. When this was lately introduced, it instantly conjured up all the explanations in my thoughts why this was a nasty thought versus an excellent one.
First off, making The Stand right into a film instantly raises purple flags for followers. The story is a sprawling epic that wants lots of time to inform its story. Attempting to condense a lot of the novel’s character work and plotting right into a function movie size format is a frightening and inherently flawed endeavor. Even when they break up the movie up into two components (which is what I’m anticipating), it’s simply the incorrect format for a narrative that’s so depending on a lot of in-depth character interactions over a big time frame.
To not point out that Doug Liman’s involvement can also be doubtful in relation to potential high quality. It’s not that Liman is an unavoidably unhealthy or uninteresting director, however I’ll argue that he’s previous his prime. His final worthwhile flick was over a decade in the past and Fringe of Tomorrow’s course will not be what makes that flick an satisfying cult favourite. And I assume everyone seems to be collectively throwing Chaos Strolling and Highway Home right into a reminiscence gap, which I can’t argue towards.
Let The New Youngsters Play
Look, The Stand is an exceptional story and positively deserves an adaptation that can do it justice. Granted, the 1994 miniseries could not have aged nicely however it’s wholly commendable for doing its best possible to ship a trustworthy adaptation. And although we’ve seemingly (and appropriately) deserted the 2020 restricted collection, it certain seems to be like The Stand has already had just a few bites on the cinematic apple.
A part of what makes this 12 months so thrilling for King followers is seeing the tales that haven’t gotten a correct shake earlier than. The Lengthy Stroll is a movie that has been attempting to get made for many years. The Monkey is a brief story that had by no means seen the sunshine of the silver display prior to now (no, I’m not acknowledging The Satan’s Present/Merlin’s Store of Mystical Wonders). Sure, The Working Man received made into an Arnold automobile and I like its model of lunkhead attraction, however it’s exceptionally removed from the precise story of the novel. Edgar Wright’s movie is giving the Bachman novel its first shot at being correctly represented and translated right into a film.
Dropping the bomb of “We’re doing The Stand! …Once more!” within the midst of a 12 months with so many recent Stephen King variations is a second that doesn’t learn the room. There are any variety of hypothetical unmade King initiatives that will have followers flipping out if a movie adaptation was introduced. Oh, Karyn Kusama is making The Woman Who Cherished Tom Gordon? Ecstatic! LAIKA introduced a stop-motion function of The Eyes of the Dragon? Stupendous! There are nonetheless so many King tales that haven’t made their approach to the display, so getting one other riff on The Stand is a betrayal to these potential initiatives.
Make Your Stand
If Doug Liman’s The Stand does find yourself occurring, I sincerely hope I’m incorrect about it. I hope it’s one of the best adaptation but and is so good it makes Distress seem like Lawnmower Man 2: Past Our on-line world. I received’t get my hopes up however I’ll permit the potential of it being a worthy third riff on the guide.
Possibly that is an unpopular opinion, however The Stand is definitely one in every of King’s tales that I believe is finest at house in its unique medium. It’s not one thing I consider as clearly cinematic. Not that it could possibly’t be however it’s a yarn finest threaded by the written phrase on the web page.
They’ll make The Stand it doesn’t matter what I write on the Web so I can solely pray it seems attention-grabbing. However I’ll be over right here refreshing the information to see if I can anticipate a Stephen King film I haven’t seen finished earlier than.
