Stephen King has had so many prolific works that there’s always a new adaptation in some stage of development. Some have earned critical acclaim, while others have been less well received. However, there’s one adaptation of King’s incredibly popular fantasy series that honestly deserves another shot. The Dark Tower consists of eight books and blends several genres, including dark fantasy, horror, and Western, while connecting several of his novels, including IT, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, and The Cell.
Like many of King’s works, The Dark Tower has a movie adaptation, with the 2017 movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. However, it was one of the less successful ones, earning only 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. Other than a failed attempt at Amazon in 2020, there had been no other attempts to revitalize it — until Mike Flanagan got the rights. The director has plenty of experience adapting King’s work, having helmed the critically acclaimed Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, and he’s been very forthcoming about how far along his projects are.
Given the scale of The Dark Tower series, it is understandable that adapting it is a tremendous amount of work, especially given his commitment to the upcoming Carrie TV series. Still, Flanagan was quick to update users on the process over at Bluesky. In response to two users, the director wrote: “It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on but we’re making progress.” It certainly isn’t an easy task, as the series follows the last gunslinger, Roland Deschain, as he seeks the Dark Tower, a magical building that harbors all the known universes, and the world-building rivals even the scale of Lord of the Rings, so Flanagan has his work cut out for him.
Meanwhile, he has a much smaller adaptation in the works at Amazon MGM. King’s 1974 novel about a bullied girl who discovers her telekinetic powers has been adapted numerous times, including three movies and a musical, and it has become one of his most defining novels in his catalog. The author has never shied away from voicing his opinions on adaptations of his work, but luckily for Flanagan, King has given the series a rave review ahead of its Oct. 7 release date.
