THE STAND: Amber Heard, James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg & More Eyed For CBS Stephen King Adaptation

THE STAND: Amber Heard, James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg & More Eyed For CBS Stephen King Adaptation

A new adaptation of Stephen King's masterful post-apocalyptic horror novel recently found a new lease of life on CBS All Access, & now it looks like most of the main cast has been assembled. Check it out.

By MarkCassidy - Jun 22, 2019 03:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Horror
We recently found out that a miniseries based on Stephen King's The Stand had been picked up for a 10-episode order at CBS All Access, and now Collider is reporting that the main cast is all-but set.

James Marsden (X-Men, Westworld) is said to be "in advanced negotiations" for the lead role of Stu Redman, who emerges as a leader of The Free Zone community. Aquaman star Amber Heard, meanwhile, is in talks to play Nadine Cross, a teacher who finds herself corrupted by the demonic Randall Flagg.

Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), Greg Kinnear (As Good as it Gets), Odessa Young (Assassination Nation) and Henry Zaga (The New Mutants) are also in negotiations to play Mother Abigail, Glen Bateman, Frannie Goldsmith and Nick Andros, respectively.

New Mutants director Josh Boone, who was the driving force behind all previous attempts to adapt the book, will direct, write, and produce the upcoming series. Here's what he had to say about the show when it was first announced:

“I read The Stand under my bed when I was 12, and my Baptist parents burned it in our fireplace upon discovery. Incensed, I stole my Dad’s FedEx account number and mailed King a letter professing my love for his work. Several weeks later, I came home to find a box had arrived from Maine, and inside were several books, each inscribed with a beautiful note from god himself, who encouraged me in my writing and thanked me for being a fan. My parents, genuinely moved by King’s kindness and generosity, lifted the ban on his books that very day.

I wrote King a cameo as himself in my first film and have been working to bring The Stand to the screen for five years. I’ve found incredible partners in CBS All Access and Ben Cavell. Together with Stephen King, Owen King, my longtime producing partners Knate Lee and Jill Killington, we plan to bring you the ultimate version of King’s masterwork.”

What do you guys make of these casting choices? Drop us a comment down below.
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Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 6/22/2019, 4:09 AM
...Whoopie?
Killuminatic
Killuminatic - 6/22/2019, 4:35 AM
OT but this tuna melt I just made is pretty delish.
Tensorpants
Tensorpants - 6/22/2019, 4:38 AM
Amber Heard is like a tootsie pop without the tootsie. Very pretty and tasty on the outside, but vacuous and empty inside.
Taumalin
Taumalin - 6/22/2019, 3:40 PM
@Tensorpants - nahhh, she‘s very cool and down to earth. A bit shy.
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 6/22/2019, 4:40 AM
Hard pass.
NoAssemblyReqd
NoAssemblyReqd - 6/22/2019, 4:50 AM
Not super excited about the casting, but especially Whoopi, who would work well in THE STAND parody, maybe.
NoAssemblyReqd
NoAssemblyReqd - 6/22/2019, 4:57 AM
I’m curious about what the musical score will be like. The original miniseries was mostly guitars and piano, wonderful stuff, and then they cocked it up with what sounded like a synthesized orchestra for the the climax in Vegas.

Would be really cool if they did similar blue-jeans-y music for this, while very gradually transitioning into something more epic.
tmp3
tmp3 - 6/22/2019, 4:59 AM
CBS All Access is pretty bad. Their Twilight Zone reboot sucks, and I hear Star Trek Discovery is pretty bad too. The Stand needed HBO, especially after Chernobyl showed how good their mini-series can be.
tmp3
tmp3 - 6/22/2019, 5:02 AM
@KingCipher - I only saw the first 3... dropped off after that, and I've heard it only gets worse. Funny enough, the Kinberg directed episode is meant to be the best one lmao
tmp3
tmp3 - 6/22/2019, 5:21 AM
@KingCipher - Yeah, the Nightmare at 30,000 Feet was a really disappointing adaptation. I was so excited for it too, remember seeing the super bowl TV spot and going "HOLY SHIT!"
CaptCoulson
CaptCoulson - 6/22/2019, 7:15 PM
@tmp3 - I still haven't watched past the first 2 episodes of the Twilight Zone redo. I couldn't believe they took this platform where you didn't have to give a shit how long or short the individual stories were anymore, and they wind up making the longest TZ episode ever (since in the original run, even the "hour long" season episodes were 42m with ads) have exactly one singular point that it makes. over and over and over and over and over.
hawkeyelover
hawkeyelover - 6/22/2019, 4:59 AM
People tend to forget that Whoopi isn't only a comedian. She's been in many dramas like Ghost and The Color Purple, her role in Star Trek TNG was far from comedic either. Especially her older work couldn't be further from comedy. So I'm kinda curious what she brings to the table for Abbigail. And I'm happy to see Marsden back in a major role after the X-Men franchise did him so dirty starting with The last stand. I'm more iffed that Amber Heard doesn't seem to have trouble to get roles after that shit she pulled. Overally, The Stand is one of King's everlasting masterpieces, the first TV adaption was flawed but good in so many aspects already, and I just want to get it done right.
neenah1971
neenah1971 - 6/22/2019, 5:04 AM
With the exception of Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg, I thought the casting of the original miniseries was spot on, especially Gary Sinise and Bill Fagerbakke. Looks like they're trying to skew younger across the board with the actors and I just don't think it will work.
hawkeyelover
hawkeyelover - 6/22/2019, 9:03 AM
@neenah1971 - Marsden isn't that young anymore. Gary Sinise has always had the look of an old soul on him, but he was actually than Marsden is today when he did The Stand. Molly Ringwald was very young as well, same with the actors of Larry and Harold. The cast of the old mini series was on parr, except for Flagg, as you said, who sadly really dragged that whole project down because you just couldn't take him seriously. But that series is still a wonderful, highly emotional watch, and if they can do that again, just better, this could be really great. As long as they don't [frick] up the casting for Nick, I'll try to be open.
hawkeyelover
hawkeyelover - 6/22/2019, 9:04 AM
@hawkeyelover - *younger than Marsden is today, that was supposed to say.
Repian
Repian - 6/22/2019, 6:21 AM
Benedict Samuel can be a great Randall Flagg.

dt41
dt41 - 6/22/2019, 6:21 AM
Matthew McCaughnhey should play Randall Flagg because Flagg is the same person as Walter The Man in Black formenting chaos in all worlds in order to bring down The Dark Tower on the orders of The Crimson King. Would love to get an episode that pulls right from The Dark Tower IV: Wizard And Glass when Roland the last gunslinger walks through the thinny with Jake and his ka-tet of gunslingers crossing over into the superflu-ravaged ‘when’ of earth (The Stand) while pursuing Flagg/Black on their journey to find the tower. That was one of the greatest book cross-overs in all of King’s books. Very eerie and chilling the way it was written...very H.P. Lovecraftian!
Deagle
Deagle - 6/22/2019, 6:36 AM
Do we really need to rehash 1994 again?
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 6/22/2019, 7:49 AM
A lot of Stephen King's works are currently being adapted on the big and small screens, I am starting to realize.

One can't tell how it will turn out right now until the first footage comes out with that said.
SpideyQuad
SpideyQuad - 6/22/2019, 8:07 AM
I never read the novel, but I love the miniseries on TV… MO ON spells moon!
4thMaster
4thMaster - 6/22/2019, 10:56 AM
I like Marsden and haven't seen Young in anything, but that cast is like really bad.
MrCamw1
MrCamw1 - 6/22/2019, 12:46 PM
Read the novel between December and January and loved it. Watched the 6 hour 4-6 hour miniseries at work on my phone and thought it was decent. (Shawnee Smith as crazy ass Julie was spot on. Underrated actress if you ask me do to all the Saw movies shes been in). Hinestky Whoopi as Mother Abigail (unpopular opinion) has me interested.
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 6/22/2019, 2:48 PM
Loved the book and the 90s mini series was really good with an amazing cast but this cast isn’t really grabbing me.
CaptCoulson
CaptCoulson - 6/22/2019, 6:55 PM
I've never seen "The Fault In Our Stars" but wasn't it even partly kinda to do with meeting your creative hero and realizing they're like an asshole? just given his King story... lol

I remember when they were talking about making this as much as a trilogy of films. This is probably the best way to do, especially when you can still get some top notch acting talent. as we all know there's no difference anymore of prestige or worthiness for an actor when it comes to doing TV or film.
I just pray they won't go anywhere near the same direction with the Harold character as the 90s thing did, who played Corin Nemic played. The 1950's-like nerdiness of him was so absurdly over the top, it took me right out of the story.
Stinkor1
Stinkor1 - 6/22/2019, 7:55 PM
It’ll be hard to top the 90s versions. It had a killer cast and an awesome soundtrack. I’ve seen that so many times that I can’t help but picture those actors as the characters whenever I read the book. Greg kinear seems a little young for the pet of glen. I think we can all agree that they MUST nail the casting of Kojak.
Jimster
Jimster - 6/22/2019, 9:58 PM

Loved the book and mini-series. Interesting cast. Another adaptation is long over due and as much as I want to watch this when it comes out I have no desire in subscribing to another streaming service I have very little interest in. Kind of hoped it was on HBO or STARZ instead.
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 6/22/2019, 11:15 PM
Did someone say....Stand....Ora Ora Ora Ora!

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