Scott Cooper replaces Ben Affleck on Stephen King's The Stand

Now that Ben Affleck is confirmed to follow his next movie Live By Night by donning the cape and cowl as The Dark Knight in 2015's Batman vs. Superman, Warner Bros. has moved to replace the actor and director on the long-rumoured adaptation of Stephen King's post-apocalyptic opus The Stand, with Deadline reporting that Scott Cooper has signed on to rewrite and direct.

Affleck first became attached to direct The Stand back in October 2011 during production on his Oscar-winning drama Argo after negotiations between Warner Bros. and Harry Potter director David Yates fell through. His successor Cooper is currently putting the finishing touches to his second feature Out of the Furnace starring Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Rises) and Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), having made his debut back in 2009 with Crazy Heart.

First published in 1978 and followed by a revised and expanded edition in 1990, The Stand tells the story of a devastating pandemic which wipes out most of humanity, with the survivors being drawn to either the righteous Mother Abigail, or the evil Randall Flagg. It was previously adapted as a TV miniseries in 1994, with King regular Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, The Shining) directing.