Summary
- Flanagan highlighted that King's stories focus on love & humanity more than horror, making the Stand adaptation promising.
- Despite concerns about length, the movie can succeed by centering on hope and connection, mirroring King's themes.
- Flanagan's approach to storytelling, using jump scares while emphasizing characters, provides a template for successful adaptations.
The apocalypse may be a common pop culture setting now, but when Stephen King's long novel The Stand was published in 1978, the genre wasn't as crowded as it is today. Some of King's most popular and enduring stories were published in the same decade, including his first novel Carrie in 1974, Salem's Lot in 1975, The Shining in 1977, and The Long Walk in 1979. There are several adaptations of each of these scary stories, and The Long Walk movie, which is about a dangerous walking competition, will be in theaters this September.
I appreciate King's singular voice, his small town Maine settings, and his villains, and I think The Stand is particularly excellent because it paints a grim but relatable picture of what could happen to a community when the worst happens. With Doug Liman's upcoming film adaptation underway, I understand the confusion that fans feel about how this big story can be one film. But, after reading an interview with Mike Flanagan where he talked about The Stand, I have a positive view of this movie.
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Mike Flanagan Once Described Stephen King's The Stand Perfectly, And Now I'm Optimistic About The Movie Adaptation
In an interview with the NCR, Mike Flanagan described Stephen King's epic and long novel The Stand, and said:
"'The Stand' isn't about Randall Flagg, it's about ordinary people standing up to an evil that they have no hope of defeating."
Flanagan continued that King's beloved story IT is "about the kids, and the love that holds them together," not Pennywise the Clown. He continued:
"I think with Stephen King people forget that. They go for the horror, but that's not what he's talking about. That’s sometimes the wrapper the story is in, but you have to understand that he's writing about love, and he's writing about humanity."
While Randall Flagg and Pennywise are some of King's most terrifying villains, Flanagan is right: King's stories are about the relationships between the main characters and their emotional experiences. He's known as a horror author, and his monsters and supernatural beings are front and center. After thinking about Flanagan's comments, I'm more optimistic about The Stand movie adaptation, as long as it has proper character development and doesn't make Randall a corny villain. Although of course Randall has to be in the film, he shouldn't be the focal point, or the movie could risk becoming a lackluster entry in a sea of post-apocalyptic stories.
Many are worried about The Stand movie adaptation because of the book's length, and there's an argument to be made that the book should become a third TV show, not a film. However, the movie can be compelling if it keeps the main theme of The Stand in mind: people need hope and connection, especially during dark and tough times. It's interesting that there are two miniseries adaptations of The Stand that were released in 1994 and 2020. I think the story could be told over several seasons of a TV show, as neither miniseries captured it perfectly.
Flanagan's words could also be used to describe his Life of Chuck adaptation. King called the film "extraordinary" and the screenwriter who ends up penning the script for The Stand should take some inspiration from it. Flanagan can give audiences jump scares and wild moments, but he never strays from the story's theme. He also never forgets that people watch movies and TV shows to care about the characters and hopefully see themselves in their experiences.
Mike Flanagan Hosted A Podcast About Stephen King's The Stand In 2020
Mike Flanagan is such a big fan of Stephen King and The Stand that he hosted a podcast in 2020 called The Company of the Mad along with Jason Sechrest, Anthony Breznican, and Tananarive Due.
Fans can also listen to The Kingcast, an ongoing podcast that discusses the beloved author's body of work. Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig, who wrote and directed I Don't Understand You, discussed The Stand on the episode that was released on June 18th, 2025. Flanagan also talked about his adaptation of The Life of Chuck on an episode that was released on June 6th.
- Birthdate
- September 21, 1947
- Birthplace
- Portland, Maine
- Notable Projects
- The Shining, Cujo, The Shawshank Redemption, It, Carrie
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