Ben Affleck Almost Adapted One Of Stephen King's Best Fantasy Books

Ben Affleck's directing career has primarily involved him working within the crime and thriller genres, but certain previous projects that ultimately never materialized would have expanded his repertoire. After being cast as the Dark Knight in the DC Extended Universe, Affleck was slated to direct a "Batman" movie, but he bowed out of helming the superhero flick to focus solely on playing Batman instead. That said, his commitments to playing Gotham's Caped Crusader also prohibited Affleck from helming a big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's novel "The Stand" for Warner Bros., which would have allowed him to dip his directorial toes into the fantasy realm.

"The Stand" is a sprawling, ambitious, post-apocalyptic horror tale set in the U.S. following a deadly pandemic. The chaos begins after a patient escapes from a military facility carrying a virus, which eventually spreads and wipes out most of the population. With society on the verge of total collapse, Mother Abigail — a 108-year-old woman — and her followers set out to restore peace, law, and order. However, she faces competition from Randall Flagg, a demonic sorcerer who inspires his followers to turn to the dark side. Thus begins the ultimate battle between good and evil for humanity's soul.

Affleck once compared his planned adaptation of "The Stand" to "Lord of the Rings," suggesting that his goal was to direct a bona fide epic on par with Peter Jackson's cinematic treatment of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy saga. Unfortunately, getting the script right caused some headaches behind the scenes, and "The Stand" became something else entirely after Affleck parted ways with the project.

"The Stand" is regarded by many as one of the best fantasy novels of all time, but condensing it for the screen has proven to be a difficult task for filmmakers. When Ben Affleck left the planned movie adaptation, Scott Cooper stepped up to replace him at the helm, only to part ways after Warner Bros. decided to adapt the novel as a single feature. Like Affleck before him, Cooper felt that the terrifying fantasy epic deserved to be spread out across multiple films and given the same treatment as "Lord of the Rings," but the studio seemingly disagreed with this idea.

After languishing in development hell for years, "The Stand" was ultimately turned into a 2020 miniseries that allowed Stephen King to correct a major regret from his book. Sadly, the Paramount+ adaptation received mixed reviews and arguably pales in comparison to Mick Garris' much better received 1994 ABC miniseries take on the story. However, maybe it would have turned out differently if the project was approached as an ambitious, multi-film cinematic franchise, as opposed to a miniseries that failed to capture the scope and quality of its source material.

The good news, though, is that Hollywood hasn't given up on making a modern adaptation of "The Stand" that will, hopefully, get King's story right. Doug Liman is currently attached to helm a big-screen adaptation for Paramount Pictures, with the project reportedly being viewed as a priority for the studio. Let's just hope that they approach it with the scale and oomph that the story deserves, as "The Stand" has the potential to spawn some "LOTR"-style epic event movies.