Many directors have tried and failed to mount Stephen King’s seminal postapocalypse novel The Stand as a big-screen feature — among them, Ben Affleck and Scott Cooper — and now, The Fault in Our Stars helmer Josh Boone has figured out a unique way to tackle that mammoth book: According to the Wrap, he’ll first adapt it as an eight-part television mini-series for Showtime that will culminate with a massive movie in theaters. Ron Howard pitched a similar approach to King’s The Dark Tower series when he intended to direct a big-screen trilogy bridged by TV mini-series installments, but that innovative incarnation eventually fell apart. This won’t be the first time that The Stand has made for a major television event, either: Mick Garris directed an ABC mini-series based on the book in 1994, starring Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe.