Released in 1978, the weighty book – the original version is 823 pages long, while the 1990 uncut edition is over 1,000 pages – explores this wasteland as a group of survivors struggle to find meaning in a new reality and end up choosing sides in a war of supernatural proportions.ĭespite being only the fourth of King’s full-length books, The Stand has cemented itself over the past four decades as one of the author’s best. In the novel, the accidental release of a world-ending plague decimates the majority of America’s population, leading to a post-apocalyptic tale of survival amid an otherworldly clash of good vs. (Photo by ABC/Courtesy: Everett Collection)

Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg (Skarsgård), the Dark Man.” The series description reads: “The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail (Goldberg) and a handful of survivors. We can’t wait to share it with the world.” We’re so proud of this show and its attempt to find meaning and hope in the most uncertain of times. “We’re honored to tell this sprawling, epic story, including a new coda that Stephen King has wanted to add for decades. “During the two years we spent making The Stand, we all felt the responsibility of adapting what may be the most beloved work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, but none of us could have imagined that Stephen King’s 40-year-old masterpiece about a global pandemic would come to be so eerily relevant,” Benjamin Cavell, co-showrunner and executive producer, said in a statement. The series, which tells King’s story of a world decimated by plague and a fight between good and evil, stars Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, Odessa Young, Jovan Adepo, Amber Heard, Owen Teague, Henry Zaga, Brad William Henke, Greg Kinnear, Irene Bedard, and Nat Wolff. The nine-episode series will be released weekly on Thursdays. The new limited event series based on Stephen King’s novel The Stand will premiere on CBS All Access on December 17, the streamer announced on Tuesday.

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