Will re-write and direct the adaptation.
Following the news that Ben Affleck is set to play Batman/Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ sequel, Deadline’s Mike Fleming is hearing word that the actor/director has withdrawn from the director’s chair for the long-in-development big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal post-apocalyptic ‘The Stand.’
Stepping in to take re-writing and directing duties for the adaptation will be Scott Cooper, who made his breakthrough with the Jeff Bridges-starrer ‘Crazy Heart.’
King’s mammoth 1978 novel is set in a time where the Earth’s population has been devastated by a “super flu” and tells the story of good versus evil, centring on a group of survivors who must battle the mysterious Randall Flagg, a man that appears to be the devil personified.
Cooper recently wrapped on his ‘Crazy Heart’ follow-up, ‘Out of the Furnace’ starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana and Casey Affleck. The revenge thriller opens in Irish cinemas early 2014.
In related news, The Wrap has learned that Affleck has also dropped out as director for an adaptation of Harlan Coben’s novel ‘Tell No One.’