The Stand TV Series Release Date Set for December

CBS All Access has set a date for its new The Stand limited series. The adaptation of the 1978 Stephen King novel will premiere on Dec. 17, bringing a new vision of the apocalypse to our TV screens just in time for the holidays.

The Stand, which is considered by many Constant Readers to be King’s absolute masterpiece, is the story of two groups of survivors living in a post-apocalyptic United States after a super flu known as Captain Trips has completely decimated 99 percent of the world’s population. In the book, these two groups — one representing the light led by the faithful Mother Abigail (Whoopi Goldberg), and the other the darkness within all men led by the sinister Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgard) — find themselves on a collision course that will decide the fate of what’s left of humanity.

A global pandemic that wipes out humanity. Two sides, one representing hope and the other led by an evil demagogue who is more interested in oppressing other groups he doesn’t like. Yeah, this show does sound a bit timely, doesn’t it? CBS must be patting itself on the back for putting this out just in time for the real-world chaos. I’m actually surprised this won’t be out in November…

The story will be told in the course of 10 episodes and includes scripts from New Mutants director Josh Boone as well as Owen King and the King of Horror himself, who penned the finale with his son. It is said to be a new ending to the story.

As reported by Vanity Fair, the series will also open in media res, forgoing the novel’s classic, fast-paced race to the end of the world for an opening episode that “opens with survivors in masks and protective gear cleaning up a neighborhood full of the dead in Boulder, Colorado.”

Fans of the novel shouldn’t expect a straight adaptation of the novel, then, but a bit of a new approach.

“I’m excited and so very pleased that The Stand is going to have a new life on this exciting new platform,” King said in a statement when it was revealed that the show would hit CBS All Access. “The people involved are men and women who know exactly what they’re doing; the scripts are dynamite. The result bids to be something memorable and thrilling. I believe it will take viewers away to a world they hope will never happen.”

The Stand stars Goldberg, Skarsgård, James Marsden, Odessa Young, Jovan Adepo, and Amber Heard. Rounding out the cast are Owen Teague, Henry Zaga, Brad William Henke, Greg Kinnear, Irene Bedard, Nat Wolff, Heather Graham, Eion Bailey, and Katherine McNamara.