Writer/director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) revealed last week that his Stephen King book adaptation, The Stand, may span four movies; he also teased that some roles have already been filled, and the films' cast is "going to blow people's minds." If a fresh report that Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey is set to play The Stand's antagonist, Randall Flagg - a role McConaughey's been rumored to take for months - is to be believed, then Boone's already on his way to fulfilling his promise.

Flagg, in The Stand, is a charismatic figure with dark supernatural abilities - one who unassumingly presents himself as an ordinary man in old clothes and cowboy boots - who begins to form a new society based in Las Vegas, in the aftermath of a pandemic that wipes out much of Earth's population. The character has appeared in several books authored by King, including installments in his fantasy series The Dark Tower.

The Guardian is reporting that McConaughey is "tipped" to portray Flagg in Boone's Stand film(s), which could mean he's currently in negotiations to play the role, or that a deal is all but done. However, it's worth noting that earlier this month, word got out that McConaughey has been in talks to star in Pleasantville and The Hunger Games director Gary Ross' upcoming Civil War project, Free State of Jones, which could wind up going into production as soon as the first quarter of 2015.

Boone has said in the recent past that he doesn't expect to get the cameras rolling on The Stand earlier than Spring 2015; meaning, things could work out schedule-wise, so McConaughey can work on both Ross' and Boone's new ventures. King's Stand source material is divided into three segments, and Flagg doesn't come into play as a major character until the second act of the novel; depending on Boone's approach to the adaptation process, it might be a while before he even begins shooting the scenes with Flagg (which, again, would free up McConaughey to make Free State of Jones in the meantime).

McConaughey does read as being a fine choice to play Randall Flagg, helping to create a multi-faceted Lucifer-type antagonist for Boone's project that might resemble, say, Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal Lecter with regard to his mix of charm and sadism. Boone has already shown a knack for drawing strong performances from his casts, so the idea of him directing A-listers like McConaughey to bring The Stand to life on the big screen is enticing, to say the least.

If Boone is successful with his ambitious Stand project, then who knows; perhaps that long-in-development Dark Tower adaptation - which could have both movie and TV show components - might finally get the additional push that it needs to take the next major step forward. And maybe McConaughey could even show up as Flagg in that King project as well (since we're dreaming big and all)...

We'll bring you more news on The Stand when we have it.

Source: The Guardian

"Randall Flagg" artwork by Clayman84 @ deviantART