According to The Wrap, Stephen King’s story The Stand will be hitting theaters only after an 8-part miniseries that is set to air on Showtime.
The idea is this: Josh Boone will be writing and directing the series, which might begin shooting early next year, and the series will culminate with the feature film. Now, this deal is not yet complete. Warner Bros. and CBS Films are still in negotiations with Showtime.
It’s an interesting move because it assumes that people will be willing to purchase a subscription package to Showtime to stay up-to-date with the series before seeing the film in theaters. Additionally, if the film doesn’t take place at the beginning of the story, unknowing moviegoers will be incredibly confused as to what’s happening.
The Stand follows a group of people who survived a global deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of humanity. They must then make their stand (no pun intended) against an Antichrist-like figure known as Randall Flagg.