Stephen King's The Stand: New TV Adaptation Premiere Date Announced

The upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's classic post-apocalyptic novel The Stand is one of 2020's most anticipated upcoming shows. It has been announced that the series will premiere in December.

As reported by Variety, The Stand will debut on CBS All-Access on Thursday, December 17. The series will have eight episodes, which will screen weekly, every Thursday. No footage from the series has been revealed yet, but the first images were released back in May.

King's 1978 novel is one of the writer's most celebrated works, and it focuses on the the aftermath of a global pandemic, which has wiped out the vast majority of the world's population. The show stars Alexander Skarsgård as Randall Flagg, Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail, Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, and Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith. King has written the final episode, as well as a new coda that takes the story beyond the end point of the novel.

In a statement, showrunner Benjamin Cavell said, "During the two years we spent making The Stand, we all felt the responsibility of adapting what may be the most beloved work of one of the world's most beloved storytellers, but none of us could have imagined that Stephen King's 40-year-old masterpiece about a global pandemic would come to be so eerily relevant.

"We're honored to tell this sprawling, epic story, including a new coda that Stephen King has wanted to add for decades. We're so proud of this show and its attempt to find meaning and hope in the most uncertain of times. We can't wait to share it with the world."

The Stand was previously adapted in 1994 as a successful mini-series directed by Mick Garris and written by King. The character of Randall Flagg has also appeared in other King books, and was played by Matthew McConaughey in the 2017 adaptation of The Dark Tower.