Bright Eyes members scored new 'The Stand' adaptation

The new adaptation of Stephen King epic post-apocalyptic novel The Stand begins airing today (12/17) on streaming service CBS All Access. The nine-episode limited series stars James Marsden (Stu Redman), Odessa Young (Frannie Goldsmith), Owen Teague (Harold Lauder), Alexander Skarsgård (Randall Flagg), and Whoopi Goldberg (Mother Abagail), and the score was composed by two members of Bright Eyes: Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. Both have extensive discographies beyond their work with Bright Eyes, and they’ve composed a score together before, too, for the 2014 film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars.

With a very contagious and deadly pandemic, known as Captain Tripps, as one of its main focuses, The Stand feels more relevant than ever in 2020, although how this adaptation will rank against the 1994 ABC adaptation starring Gary Sinise, Adam Storke, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Miguel Ferrer, Laura San Giacomo, Jamey Sheridan, and others remains to be seen. You can watch the trailer below.

After previously saying he’d appear in the series, Marilyn Manson‘s role, The Kid, was cut before filming, and The Doors cover he recorded deemed too expensive to use. “The show was made on a very tight budget and some of the dreams we had went to the wayside,” premiere director Josh Boone said. “The Kid was another casualty. When Manson wasn’t able to make it work schedule-wise, the storyline was ultimately excised and never shot, which is for the best, as no one could have slayed that role like Manson would have.”

Meanwhile, Bright Eyes returned with their first album since 2011, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was this year.