Paramount+We’re in a new golden age of Stephen King adaptations. Granted, most of it is coming from Mike Flanagan, who just released The Life of Chuck and is now working on a Carrie series while also juggling the long-awaited Dark Tower show. But there’s also Edgar Wright’s Running Man remake, the upcoming Long Walk movie (for those who prefer walking-based dystopian game shows to running-based ones), and the It: Welcome to Derry prequel series (for those who want to see small-town sewer clown murders go intergenerational). In addition to all of that, a renowned filmmaker is taking a crack at a theatrical adaptation of one of King’s most ambitious projects. The only problem? Its last adaptation was just a few years ago. Doug Liman will adapt The Stand a mere four years after Paramount+ tackled it. | JOHN LAMPARSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesAccording to The Hollywood Reporter, Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman will direct a new adaptation of The Stand, Stephen King’s 1150-page post-apocalyptic story. It follows the survivors of a brutal influenza epidemic as two factions form: one backing the elderly Mother Abagail, and another following recurring King villain Randall Flagg. The Paramount movie, which is said to be a standalone, will be the story’s third adaptation. The first was an eight-hour, four-night 1994 miniseries that earned six Emmy nominations. The second TV adaptation was notable more for its timing, as production on the disease-based apocalypse show wrapped in March 2020, days before the world faced an eerily similar event. Gary Sinise starred in the 1994 adaptation of The Stand. | Greengrass Prod/Laurel Ent/Kobal/ShutterstockLiman’s version being a movie is quite the risk. The Stand is a huge story, and many attempts to turn its dozens of characters into a condensed feature have proven impossible so far. George Romero and Josh Boorman were both attached to an attempt over the ‘70s and ‘80s, while the 2020 miniseries was originally planned as two movies, then one movie, then four movies, then a limited series culminating in a movie, before finally settling on just a miniseries. So this could be just the first step down the long road to development hell, but Doug Liman’s directorial vision and lengthy resumé might make him the man to finally solve the puzzle. A lot could depend on who signs on to write the script... is Mike Flanagan busy?The Stand is streaming on Paramount+.