Television Stephen King’s The Stand Comes to Life Again (Vanity Fair First Look)

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

A new version of the legendary plague novel—starring Alexander Skarsgård, Whoopi Goldberg, James Marsden, and legions more—was in production just as COVID-19 hit. A preview of our worst nightmares.

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The miniseries will shuffle the chronology of King’s book, meaning it won’t play out the same linear way as the earlier Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan miniseries that was a ratings hit for ABC in 1994.

 

When the new show begins, the plague has already struck. The first episode, directed by The Fault in Our Stars filmmaker Josh Boone, opens with survivors in masks and protective gear cleaning up a neighborhood full of the dead in Boulder, Colorado. These men and women are among the last the remnants of humanity, trying to restart society again. Each of them is immune to the Captain Trips virus that wiped out everyone else they knew. They’re wearing masks and gear because removing countless decaying bodies is grim, messy work.

 

 

[Greatoneshere]

I've been looking forward to this - Josh Boone is a huge fan of the novel - hopefully this is good.

[Nokra]

The Stand has been on my "to read" list ever since I read the Dark Tower series, loved it, and found out these two were connected. Thanks for the heads up! Too bad Whoopi Goldberg is in it though.  

[Bloodporne]

9 minutes ago, Nokra said:

The Stand has been on my "to read" list ever since I read the Dark Tower series, loved it, and found out these two were connected. Thanks for the heads up! Too bad Whoopi Goldberg is in it though.  

I mainly remember it being approximately  eight million pages and it taking me months to finish it as a teenager.

[ShreddieMercury]

I was just thinking about creating a Stephen King book thread.  I've never read any of his stuff but I picked up Salem's Lot recently and am really enjoying it!

[CastlevaniaNut18]

1 hour ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

I was just thinking about creating a Stephen King book thread.  I've never read any of his stuff but I picked up Salem's Lot recently and am really enjoying it!

Yes! I got into him around two years ago and I've still got a ton of his stuff go through. I really like a lot of what I've read, though. The Stand is sitting on my shelf, but after reading IT, I'm a bit intimidated by the size.

[ShreddieMercury]

44 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Yes! I got into him around two years ago and I've still got a ton of his stuff go through. I really like a lot of what I've read, though. The Stand is sitting on my shelf, but after reading IT, I'm a bit intimidated by the size.

Totally, even Salem's Lot is around 600 or so pages.  I was surprised by the length, but it's very readable and I've been gripped by the story so it's gone by pretty quickly.  I've picked up IT at bookstores and been confused as to how I would even hold it while reading though.

[EternallDarkness]

3 hours ago, Nokra said:

The Stand has been on my "to read" list ever since I read the Dark Tower series, loved it, and found out these two were connected. Thanks for the heads up! Too bad Whoopi Goldberg is in it though.  

 

just about every book King does is tied in with The Dark Tower. And I agree with you about Whoopi, especially since her role is actually an important one

[CastlevaniaNut18]

39 minutes ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

Totally, even Salem's Lot is around 600 or so pages.  I was surprised by the length, but it's very readable and I've been gripped by the story so it's gone by pretty quickly.  I've picked up IT at bookstores and been confused as to how I would even hold it while reading though.

Yeah, I got through Salem's Lot pretty quickly. It took me 4 months to read IT, but I kept putting it down and reading something else in between, because it did lag at times. Overall, I really liked it, though. I read it on Kindle, so no issues holding such a fat book.

 

It's weird. Some books, I fly through in days. I'm reading an 800 page Greg Ilse novel now and I'd have finished it in 3 days if work didn't factor in. I started it Monday and I'll be done most likely tomorrow, when I'm off.

[Chairslinger]

Fuck, they're already in Boulder? They is over halfway through the damn book. I understand that film sometimes switches things around, but the first part of the book serves to introduce us to all the different characters as they experience the plague, tragedy, the struggles in the aftermath, and how they react in coming together. And unlike soooo many long works with too many characters that blend together, the Stand succeeds largely on it's ability to have so many diverse characters that are all interesting in their own way.

 

It's kind of ironic, because they're taking up the narrative at exactly the time King said he felt like he was losing control of the story and things were becoming uninteresting to him, which is what led to the more minimalist ending as he wanted to cut through the Gordian knot and get to an ending. Basically he said he wrote the book as he became completely disillusioned with society itself, and he wrote the book as his own way to tear it all down, but by the time they were getting settled into Boulder the characters were just recreating that society.