CBS All Access has tapped Golden Globe-winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies) and Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost) for the forthcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. Skarsgård joins the cast as the infamous villain Randall Flagg, while Goldberg will portray Mother Abagail.
“The Stand is Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old other Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the Dark Man,” reads the show’s official description.
Writers Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) and Ben Cavell (SEAL Team) helm the 10-episode series. Boone will also direct the series for CBS Television Studios with Roy Lee, Jimmy Miller, Richard P. Rubinstein, and Cavell as executive producers. Will Weiske and Miri Yoon will co-executive produce with Owen King serving as producer.
King penned the 10th and final episode of the series, which will reportedly include a new “coda” to the story that wasn’t part of the author’s original novel.
Skarsgård and Goldberg are the latest additions to a cast that includes James Marsden as Stu Redman, Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith, Henry Zaga as Nick Andros, Greg Kinnear as Glen Bateman, Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, Amber Heard as Nadine Cross, Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, Brad William Henke as Tom Cullen, and Daniel Sunjata as Cobb.
The Stand begins filming this fall for a 2020 premiere on CBS All Access.