Matthew McConaughey is tipped to take the role of villainous Randall Flagg in The Stand, a Hollywood franchise based on the 1978 Stephen King novel. Backed by Warner Bros, The Stand will be released as four standalone pictures directed by Josh Boone. Discussing the project on Kevin Smith’s podcast, Boone described The Stand as “the Godfather of post-apocalyptic thrillers.”



Conceived as an American version of The Lord of the Rings, King’s 1200-page epic spotlights the battle between good and evil after a deadly virus has wiped out the bulk of the world’s population. McConaughey looks set to play the story’s chief antagonist, a grinning cowboy with supernatural powers who establishes a power base in the ruins of Las Vegas.

McConaughey won the 2014 best actor Oscar for his acclaimed turn in The Dallas Buyers Club and recently appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and as an anguished Louisiana cop in the TV series True Detective. Boone directed the teen weepy The Fault in Our Stars and has also been booked to direct another Stephen King adaptation, Lisey’s Story. The Stand was previously made into a TV mini-series back in 1994.