After several years of delays, a theatrical adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel The Stand is finally moving forward, with Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) writing the screenplay adaptation and directing. Back in June, the filmmaker revealed he is making a three-hour, R-rated movie based on Stephen King's 1152-page book. But last month, Stephen King himself said they are now planning on making multiple movies. Today we finally have some clarification after Josh Boone appeared on Kevin Smith's Hollywood Babble-On podcast, where he confirmed that the adaptation will now span four movies.

Here's what he had to say about the initial script he wrote and how Warner Bros. asked him to expand it, while teasing that some cast members may have already been added and when production may begin.

"I really wanted to do an A-list actor, really grounded, credible version of the movie. I sold them on that and they hired me...I sold them on a single, three hour movie. I went and got [Stephen] King sold on it, everybody's really excited...I told the story non-linear and that was the way I was able to compress that book and get everything into that script. You open with Mother Abigail dying and sending the guys off, and then you jump back in time. So what happened is the script gets finished, I write it in like five months, everybody loves it, (Stephen) King loves it, $87 million is what it was budgeted at, really expensive for a horror drama that doesn't have set pieces. 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. So I think we are going to do like four movies. I can't tell you anything about how we're going to do them, or what's going to be in which movie. I'll just say we are going to do four movies, and we're going to do The Stand at the highest level you can do it at, with a cast that's going to blow people's minds. We've already been talking to lots of people, and have people on board in certain roles that people don't know about. We're looking to go into production next year, maybe in the spring."

We reported in August that Matthew McConaughey is being eyed to play the villainous Randall Flagg, but it isn't known if he has signed on. The original novel was adapted into a four-part The Stand mini-series back in 1994. With four feature films, this could be the most faithful adaptation of the novel yet. Are you excited for a four-part theatrical adaptation of The Stand? Chime in with your thoughts below.