Why the New Adaptation of "The Stand" Could Become the Best Stephen King Film

When it seems like everything by King has already been adapted for the screen, news appears that makes even the most seasoned horror fan start nervously rubbing their palms together.

According to Deadline, Paramount is officially moving forward with a feature film version of "The Stand," with Doug Liman set to direct. This is the same filmmaker who once transformed genre cinema into something much bigger.

And here's where things get really interesting. Because this time, everything might finally come together.

What is "The Stand" and why is it so hard to adapt

"The Stand" (1978) is one of the cornerstone novels in King's literary universe. It's an epic about good versus evil, pandemic, survival, faith, and of course, people pushed to their breaking point. At 1,200 pages, it's no joke.

The novel has been adapted twice before: the 1994 miniseries seemed solid for its time, but today it feels like watching an old VHS tape.

Writer Stephen King wearing glasses smiles with a book nearby, standing against the backdrop of a destroyed city — Stephen King and the novel "The Stand"

The second version was a 2020 series commissioned by CBS All Access. It had a troubled development with a revolving door of directors — from Ben Affleck to Scott Cooper. Eventually, they handed it to Josh Boone. Despite a stellar cast (James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård), the series turned out uneven: visually solid but narratively questionable. The expected "great comeback" never happened.

So far, no adaptation has managed to fully capture the book's epic scope and philosophy.

Why now and why Liman

But now everything could change. First, Liman is a director who knows how to blend action, drama, and wit. "The Bourne Identity," "Edge of Tomorrow," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" — these aren't just entertainment, they're character studies set in unstable worlds. That's exactly the kind of director "The Stand" needs.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg in white clothing and actor Alexander Skarsgård in a denim jacket — Scenes from the 2020 series "The Stand"

Second, Paramount clearly isn't cutting corners: the project is slated as a theatrical release, meaning it'll be shot for the big screen, with a big budget, no format compromises. After the success of "Dune" and "Oppenheimer," studios are betting again that large-scale stories can and should live in theaters.

Why "The Stand" could be the definitive King adaptation

Perfect timing. The world is once again afraid of pandemics, authoritarianism, and social division. The novel's themes resonate even louder than they did in 1978.
Visual potential. From the desert wasteland of Las Vegas to the ruins of Boulder — these are sets made for IMAX, not low-budget drama.
Randall Flagg on the big screen. One of King's most charismatic villains will finally get the scale he deserves.

Sure, King has had great adaptations — "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Shining," "It." But almost none of them tackled such a monumental text in its entirety.

If Paramount doesn't lose its nerve, if Liman doesn't slip into parody, if they trust the screenplay to a real fan of the source material instead of an algorithm, we're looking at not just another King film, but potentially the best King film ever made. Earlier on zoomboola.com, we explained why Henry Cavill won't be able to eclipse Christopher Lambert in the new "Highlander."