Don't go getting our hopes up by telling us that M-O-O-N might actually spell more than one film for the feature adaptation of The Stand, Stephen King.
That's exactly what the author did -- minus the Tom Cullen reference -- in a recent interview. Not only did he hint that Josh Boone's adaptation of his beloved novel might actually be more than just one film, but he mentions something "entirely different" about the plan to bring the story to life.
MTV caught up with Stephen King and the subject of The Stand adaptation came up. Last we heard, King sounded pleased with Josh Boone's script, which intends to squeeze the author's massive novel into a three-hour picture. But King's conversation with MTV elaborates on that a bit, not only in hinting that it might not be one film, but that there's something different in the works for this project...
"I think that his take is terrific. And don't count on it being one film. Because there's talk about doing it in an entirely different and innovative way. And I don't want to go into it because it's Josh's baby."
"Entirely different and innovative," are King's words. The author goes on to share some praise about Josh Boone, whose recent adaptation of The Fault In Our Stars was a notable success, not only at the box office, but also among critics and fans. King described Boone as both hugely ambitious and hugely energetic, and it sounds like that ties into his thoughts on whatever Boone has planned for this Stand adaptation.
Now let's get to speculating and theorizing. On the surface, saying "don't count on it being one film" could mean simply that more than one film is planned. But that's neither "entirely different" nor particularly "innovative." What would be different is a TV series, miniseries or movie that sets up the story and/or some of the characters without interrupting the flow of the film. Meaning -- and this is pure speculation here -- maybe they're planning to do some kind of lead-in project which would help capture more of the story than what would be able to fit into a three-hour movie. If they divided the story the right way, the movie would ideally hold up on its own, without people needing to have seen the TV movie/miniseries. But those fans who want to see this book properly fleshed out on screen would get to enjoy both. That'd be my idea of "entirely different" and "innovative."
And to give credit where credit is due, this speculation stems largely from the plans that were once being tinkered with when Universal was trying to bring The Dark Tower series to the big (and small) screen. The Stand may only be one book, but it's a big book with a story that could lend itself really nicely to a big-small screen combo-pack if they figured out a way to organize the characters and the story the right way.
Whether or not this theory proves to be even remotely accurate remains to be confirmed -- and King does say "there's talk," so whatever the plan is may not be set in stone just yet -- but it's exciting to hear that there may be more than just one film planned for this story. The apocalyptic tale was adapted into a 4-part miniseries in 1994 and even that didn't seem long enough to capture the full scope of King's story. It's hard to imagine a 3-hour movie managing to do it without making some noticeable abridgments. But we're still incredibly optimistic that -- with the right cast -- and King's seal of approval, this film will measure up to its source material. We'll be sure to keep an ear out for updates on this project.
Check out Stephen King's brief discussion of The Stand in the video after the jump...
