During the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, a 30-second teaser trailer dropped for the highly anticipated CBS All Access adaptation of Stephen King’s horror juggernaut, The Stand. The star-studded adaptation of one of King’s longest novels promises scares that hit close to home in 2020, as the story centers on “survivors of the superflu, plague that has decimated the world’s population” (The Wrap).
The teaser features Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act, Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Mother Abigail Freemantle, who tells Frannie Goldsmith, played by Odessa Young (Assassination Nation), to meet her at Hemingford Home. King’s novel is set in Hemingford Home, Nebraska, a popular setting for many of King’s works, and focuses on the two main surviving “camps” of superflu – one led by Freemantle and the other led by Randall Flagg, via Variety. Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood, Big Little Lies) will join his brother, Bill Skarsgard (IT, Castle Rock), in taking on the role of an iconic King villain as he plays Flagg, “a dark figure with supernatural abilities who attempts to construct totalitarian civilization in the wake of the plague” (The Wrap).
Alongside eerie visuals and ambiance, CBS’s trailer utilizes a rendition of the Fugees song “Ready or Not”, via Syfy. Though there’s plenty to intrigue fans with in this initial teaser, Syfy posts: “it’s impossible to get a full reading on a story as epic as The Stand from a teaser this brief.” Published in 1978, The Stand is King’s longest stand-alone work to-date, meaning the series has plenty of lot of ground to cover.
Actress Katherine McNamara (Arrow, Shadowhunters) excitedly introduced her The Stand character, Julie Lawry, to fans on Twitter Sunday after the trailer dropped. McNamara took screenshots of her character from the trailer, which she likewise shared on Twitter with the caption: “ready or not… here we come… and with a bang.” McNamara will join previously mention cat members Goldberg, Odessa and Skarsgarrd along with Amber Heard (Aquaman), Jovan Adepo (The Leftovers), James Marsden (Sonic the Hedgehog), Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), Brad William Henke (Orange it is the New Black), Daniel Sunjata (Graceland, Rescue Me), Nat Wolff (Paper Towns), Heather Graham (Boogie Nights) and Owen Teague (Bloodline), who previously occupied King’s town of Derry, Maine in IT and IT Chapter Two.
SEAL Team creator Benjamin Cavell (Justified) will showrun the 9-episode horror mini-series for CBS All Access, according to The Wrap. Though the episodes were penned by team of writers, King himself took on the task of writing the series’ final episode, adding new material not featured in the novel and providing “‘a new coda’ to the story” (The Wrap).
The Stand has previously been adapted as a mini-series on ABC in 1994, according to Syfy. This latest version from CBS All Access will be available starting December 17, airing on Thursdays after the premiere.