Devin, over at Badass Digest, is reporting that Warner Bros has placed Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass at the top of their wish list to direct their ambitious big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. You may recall that I reported late last week that Scott Cooper (Out of The Furnace) had dropped out of the project over creative differences. At the time, I maintained that the project is a big priority over on the Warner movie lot. If the news about Greengrass is true, then that only confirms how important the project is for them.

They had first offered it to WB golden child, Ben Affleck, then gave it to Cooper- who’s been in-demand since Crazy Heart, and whose Furnace has good early buzz- and now with Greengrass in their sights, it’s clear they’re aiming high. Greengrass’s latest, Phillips, has Oscar buzz around it thanks to strong performances from Tom Hanks and newcomer Barkhad Abdi. The director’s other work is highly-praised as well, as he is most known for his work on the latter two films of the original Bourne trilogy.

As of now, it’s unknown if any actual offer has been made to the director. If one is made, it would be quite a leap for the British filmmaker, who has never tackled anything like the post-apocalyptic horror epic that WB intends The Stand to be. Since jumping to the big screen from television, his works have all stayed grounded in contemporary real-world settings.

Either way, it looks like WB is looking for a big name to helm this picture, and they’re hoping to get this going as soon as possible.

More as it develops.

SOURCE: Badass Digest