Stephen King's The Stand Almost Didn't Even Exist, But I…

Summary

The Stand movie adaptation faces challenges due to the book's length and numerous characters.
An excellent movie adaptation is possible by focusing on a few notable characters and themes.
Fans praise The Stand for relatable small-town setting, memorable characters, and slow-building plot.

While not every Stephen King adaptation is excellent, and sometimes the book is better, the author has had a particularly exciting past few years. From Osgood Perkins's gory horror movie The Monkey to the moving The Life of Chuck, which sadly isn't doing well at the box office, there have been some fascinating films based on the author's scary and also more realistic stories. A movie adaptation of The Stand, King's 1978 dystopian novel, was recently announced, and with The Running Man being released in November, King's fans are thrilled to see so many of his stories at their local movie theater.

Some of King's books lend themselves easily to a movie or TV adaptation. Misery, for instance, tells a linear tale of an author and an intense and dangerous fan, and it makes sense that the movie would work so well. While I agree that adapting some of King's work is tougher than others, I'm wondering if the biggest criticism of The Stand could actually work in its favor.

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By Aya Tsintziras

Stephen King's The Stand Is A Long Book With Countless Characters, But I Think That Could Be A Good Thing For The Movie

James Marsden in The Stand 2020 miniseries

In 2019, Stephen King was interviewed on the podcast Post Mortem, which is hosted by Mick Garris, the director of the 1994 The Stand miniseries, and he shared that he came close to walking away from the novel. According to Entertainment Weekly, King explained:

"I said, 'This is getting too big, this is unwieldy. I almost ended the book right there, I almost left it in a drawer, because I said, 'I don't know what to do with all these people, I've spread the thing too wide.'"

King's comments shed light on one worry about The Stand's movie adaptation: the fact that the book is over 1,000 pages and has so many characters. It's hard not to wonder how the movie can be any good or can even begin to explore the well-written characters and major themes of the popular novel. There are so many other post-apocalyptic stories that could be adapted for film, including King's son Joe Hill's The Fireman.

After giving this some more thought, however, I think that The Stand movie can be great, even though adapting the lengthy novel will be a challenge. First of all, it's possible to focus on a few notable characters and briefly show the others. For instance, there's no movie without the mysterious and compelling Randall Flagg, or Frannie Goldsmith, a young pregnant woman grappling with the terrifying present and her shaky future.

Second of all, the large cast of characters speaks to the theme of the story: at the end of the day, when disaster strikes, everyone is human, and it's possible to find connection and lean on each other.

In real life, a pandemic or other notable event affects a large group of people, so it makes sense that The Stand would be about more than a few characters. I'd love for the movie to spotlight a handful of characters and then zoom out and briefly show some of the others. While some of King's adaptations should follow the book closely, and hopefully Edgar Wright's The Running Man does the novel justice, The Stand movie might need a few minor changes in order to work properly.

Fans Love Stephen King's The Stand's Characters And Compelling Tone (And Hopefully The Movie Can Get It Right)

Jovan Adepo and James Marsden in The Stand 2020 miniseries

In a Reddit thread, several of Stephen King's fans discussed why they consider The Stand to be such a great story. Readers noted the relatable small town setting, the unforgettable characters, and the pace.

Redditor @Talvezno wrote:

"I absolutely love The Stand, have read it multiple times in the last 20 years... I really really like small town, slice of life, stories... The Stand felt Incredibly immersive."

Redditor @drewfarndale likes it because there is:

"A memorable set of characters on both sides of the divide. A real sense of dread that sustains itself until the end."

Other fans praised the "slow build" of the plot. I'm interested to see how The Stand movie adaptation handles the book's sometimes slow pace while ensuring that the film isn't boring. While there are many reasons why the book will be hard to adapt into an excellent movie, I'm intrigued and look forward to hearing about the cast and seeing a trailer at some point.

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