Josh Boone and Showtime present Stephen King's The Stand

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Before it hits a movie theater near you, Stephen King‘s epic post-apocalyptic novel “The Stand” will take a revolutionary detour to the small screen, as Warner Bros. and CBS Films are nearing a deal with Showtime for an eight-part miniseries that will culminate in a big-budget feature film, multiple individuals familiar with the ambitious project have told TheWrap. Josh Boone, the “Fault In Our Stars” director who boarded “The Stand” in February 2014, will write and direct the star-studded miniseries, which is expected to start shooting early next year as one cohesive production, according to insiders. “The Stand” chronicles an epic battle between good and evil after the American population is all but wiped out by a deadly virus. Story follows a group of survivors who fight against an Antichrist-like figure named Randall Flagg. A miniseries will allow Boone to cover more of King’s epic book than one, three-hour movie. The same thinking was once applied to King’s “Dark Tower” series, which never got off the ground, though “The Stand” offers an ensemble-driven story that may be better suited for a groundbreaking adaptation. King is expected to be involved in some capacity along with producers Roy Lee and Jimmy Miller, and high-level meetings amongst the filmmaking team are taking place next week to finalize the ambitious multi-platform plan. Top talent agents have already been notified, as Boone plans to set his sights on several A-listers, many of whom have become more interested in doing limited TV in the wake of HBO’s “True Detective.” Speaking of HBO, while Warner Bros. has a deal with them since they share the same parent company, the network’s involvement was complicated by the fact that CBS Films shares “The Stand” rights with Warners. Since WB is handling theatrical distribution for “The Stand,” it was only fair that the project’s TV component fall under CBS’ deal with Showtime, though no deal is in place yet with the network. Originally published in 1978, “The Stand” achieved cult-like status by the time it was re-released in 1990 with additions and revisions by King. The influential novel was adapted as a TV miniseries in 1994 starring Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe. Boone will tackle “The Stand” before he turns his attention to Fox’s “X-Men” spinoff “The New Mutants” and Universal’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s “Prince Lestat: The Vampire Chronicles.” Representatives for Warner Bros. and CBS Films did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while a representative for Showtime told TheWrap “there is nothing to discuss at this time.”

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