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Warner Bros. Switches Affleck for Scott Cooper to Direct 'The Stand'

by Ethan Anderton
August 23, 2013

Hot on the heels of the official news that Warner Bros. had hired The Town and Argo director and star Ben Affleck to play Batman in Zack Snyder's gestating sequel to Man of Steel, they studio has another announcement regarding the Good Will Hunting writer. Back in 2011, Warner Bros. chose Affleck to direct and write an adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand, the story of a biological apocalyptic disaster that decimated the population, and the survivors who try to rebuild in the aftermath. Now Deadline reports Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace director Scott Cooper will step up to write and direct the film instead.

Here's the official synopsis of the lengthy book:

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides — or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail — and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

Considering Affleck was already busy trying to get his adaptation of Live By Night off the ground, and now he's playing Batman, he just doesn't have the time to get this project together. We're surprised it took this long for Warner Bros. to get someone else on board the project. We're not sure if this will be Cooper's next project, since he's also developing The Road Home, which may also be known as Creek, with Leonardo DiCaprio. Meanwhile, his film Out of the Furnace is coming in December, and there will likely be some awards buzz for the film starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Zoe Saldana.

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