The Stand is one of Stephen King's best regarded works, and it's only natural that Hollywood should want to adapt it for the screen. Now, though, it looks like the book is getting the Hobbit treatment. In an interview with Kevin Smith last week, director Josh Boone said that he plans on adapting the book in four parts, describing his vision as "highest level you can do it at, with a cast that’s going to blow people’s minds."

During the almost-two-hour podcast, Boone talks about the development process and his initial plan to make it a single, three-hour film on a budget of $87 million. Eventually, Warner Bros. approached him with the idea of blowing out the work into multiple parts, an opportunity he jumped on. During the interview, he said, "They came back and said, 'Would you do it as multiple films?' and I said, 'Fuck yes!' I loved my script, and I was willing to drop it in an instant because you’re able to do an even truer version that way."

Despite getting a well-received adaptation back in 1994, The Stand is still a formidable work, conceived as an American, post-apocalyptic version of The Lord of the Rings. Featuring a massive cast of characters, one of its most iconic happens to be Randall Flagg, a supernatural villain who appears in many of King's works, including his magnum opus The Dark Tower. Matthew McConaughey is even rumored to be close to accepting the role of Flagg for the quadrilogy, though Warner Bros. has yet to make a confirmation. We look forward to hearing more about the films as announcements continue to trickle forth.