Warner Bros has apparently settled on actor-turned-director to direct Stephen King’s doorstop of a novel . . .

Latest word from Hollywood has it that the studio has decided on Affleck to direct the Stephen King novel.

Although Affleck has directed two critically acclaimed movies (The Town and Gone Baby Gone) and is working on his third, namely Argo which is about American efforts to free hostages in Iran, The Stand should be quite a challenge for any film-maker.

The source novel clocks in at 1 400 plus pages and is probably better suited for a miniseries rather than a movie (in fact it had already been made into an ABC miniseries in May of 1994 starring Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe amongst others).

The story involves a monumentally devastating plague which leaves only a few survivors who, while experiencing dreams of a battle between good and evil, move toward an actual confrontation as they migrate to Boulder, Colorado.

Ben Affleck hasn’t been officially signed on yet though.

The movie is set for a 2013 release.