It’s been a rough run for the current attempt to reboot ‘The Stand‘ by Warner Brothers and CBS Films as the project has just lost another director. This time Scott Cooper (‘Crazy Heart’, ‘Out of the Furnace’) has left the production of the film. Cooper was not only set to direct the current adaptation but also was helping on writing the screenplay. While there is no concrete reason on why he has stepped out of the production, some are saying that it is over creative differences on the direction of the film. If that proves to be true, we should all mourn his leaving.
The rumor is that Cooper was looking for a hard R rating while the studio was looking to have a PG or even a PG-13 film. If this is the case why he left, someone should have them actually sit down and read ‘The Stand’ as an R rating is exactly what this film needs to be given a proper feature film treatment. The previous mini-series, while enjoyable, didn’t nail the tone of the book as it should have.
On the flip side it was also being questioned exactly how many movies would be needed to properly do the book justice and that could also have been where the issue stemmed from.
Cooper is not the first director to have been attached to this project as previously David Yates (‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2‘) had been set to direct as well as Ben Affleck (‘Argo’) before being called away to work on the cowl in the upcoming ‘Batman vs. Superman‘ film.
With no director in place, the studio is quickly trying to find a replacement to move forward on the film. Currently the names on the short list are Cary Fukunaga (‘Jane Eyre’), Paul Greengrass (‘The Bourne Ultimatum’), Daniel Espinosa (‘Safe House’) and Denis Villeneuve (‘Prisoners’). Interestingly, not all but many of the directors being looked at seem to have a lot of experience with action.
Are you looking forward to a reboot of ‘The Stand’? What are your thoughts on the multitude of changes of who will be sitting in the director’s chair?
Novel Synopsis:
When a man escapes from a biological testing facility, he sets in motion a deadly domino effect, spreading a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99 percent of humanity within a few weeks. The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge–Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
