The master of horror has many things to look forward to. With CBS All Access’s The Stand debuting this year, Stephen King is still very much the king of telling scary stories. In anticipation of the limited series being released on December 17, he told Entertainment Weekly what to expect.
The Stand is a limited 9 part series that may hit too close to home for some. It depicts the world in an apocalyptic state after a majority of the human race has been wiped out from a deadly virus. The series stars Whoopi Goldberg (Nobody’s Fool), James Marsden (Westworld), Amber Heard (Aquaman), Nat Wolff (Death Note), and Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood). The first full length trailer was released on Friday, giving viewers a taste for what’s to come.
King had many things to say about this modern day adaptation of The Stand. Notably, he wrote a new ending for the series that was not featured in the book. He told Entertainment Weekly: “I was able to bring things back around. I’ve had an idea for that final episode that I always kind of regretted not writing it in the book — the book’s long enough as it is. I can’t tell you anything about the episode other than to say that I’ve seen a rough cut of it, and I think it’s fine.” Originally released in 1978, King shocked fans when he re-released an uncut version in 1990 that reached well over 1000 pages. Now, avid fans will get even more.
On comparing The Stand to today’s pandemic, King acknowledged the differences and similarities. He stated to Entertainment Weekly, “It’s not like COVID-19 where you can actually protect yourself. But there are some remarkable similarities in terms of what the government is willing to say and whether or not they’re costing lives. The government panic in order to keep people from understanding how serious it is — that has reverberations to what’s going on now.” King has been very vocal over his political beliefs on twitter for the past several months, sharing his viewpoints on how this pandemic has been handled by the government.”
The Stand is not the only King adaptation coming to TV. Mr. Mercedes, which ran on the Audience Network for three seasons is now coming to Peacock. Its first two seasons will hit the streaming service on October 15.
Mr. Mercedes starred Brendan Gleeson (The Comey Rule), Justine Lupe (Succession), and Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful). It tells the story of a retired detective Bill Hodges who’s taunted and teased by a murderer he was never able to catch. King posted to twitter on Wednesday, sharing a behind the scenes video of him and the cast in anticipation of the series coming to Peacock on Thursday.
See King’s tweet below: