Back in August we reported that Warner Bros. had signed Harry Potter writer-director team Steve Kloves and David Yates to work their magic on an epic adaptation of Stephen King’s epic 1978 apocalyptic horror fantasy The Stand, which had previously been made into a television miniseries for ABC in 1994.

Now it appears that Kloves and Yates have departed the project, and according to Deadline, a new director has stepped in: Ben Affleck.

Ever since he made his directorial debut in 2007 with the acclaimed thriller Gone Baby Gone and solidified his reputation with last year’s smash hit The Town. Affleck’s stock in Hollywood has shot into the stratosphere. He’s currently in production on his most ambitious film yet as a director, Argo. Given that Affleck has proved more than capable of making well-crafted films loaded with quality acting and exciting action scenes, it’s no surprise that the actor-turned-director would be called upon to mount the kind of ambitious production The Stand will require.

Affleck will also write the adaptation, a sound decision given his strong writing pedigree (he won an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting and also co-wrote his first two films as a director), but it would also be great to see him re-team with his Gone Baby Gone and The Town Aaron Stockard on writing duties. Affleck has a knack for drawing top-tier acting talent to his directorial efforts so I’m interested in seeing the ensemble cast he puts together. Maybe he’ll cast himself as Stu Redman.

[Source: Deadline]