Matthew McConaughey is circling a starring role in Warner Bros.' long-gestating adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand, The Guardian reports.

The Oscar winner would play the primary antagonist Randall Flagg, the supernatural embodiment of evil in the 1978 novel who tries to build a new society in what remains of Las Vegas after a deadly virus wipes out most of the world's population.

Directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), The Stand has grown from one film into four. That of course means a significant time commitment from McConaughey, who starred earlier this year in the first season of the HBO crime anthology True Detective.

The Stand was previously adapted in 1994 as a four-part television miniseries on ABC, with Jamey Sheridan in the Randall Flagg role.