Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Will Receive A Mammoth Adaptation
For as well as Stephen King’s books sell, his movies, by and large, I can do without. Some of the earlier works – like CARRIE and CUJO and CHRISTINE – are great, and I’d even throw MISERY in the mix later, but NEEDFUL THINGS and THE TOMMYKNOCKERS and and THINNER all suck, and they aren’t the only ones. There’s more than a few. In fact, it’s been his more serious works that have made the best films – STAND BY ME, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE. But, if there’s one thing Stephen King fans can agree on, it’s that THE DARK TOWER would make for something epic if anyone could ever crack making the 7 novels that make up the series into a feature film. Well, it looks like such a massive undertaking is going to happen… and it’s actually too big for just movies. Talk about epic.
Universal has landed the rights to THE DARK TOWER, according to Deadline Hollywood, and plans to turn the series into a trilogy of movies working together with a network TV series with director/producer Ron Howard at the helm. Howard will direct the first film and the first season of the show, with Akiva Goldsman (A TIME TO KILL, BATMAN & ROBIN, THE DA VINCI CODE) tabbed to pen both for him.
“The plan is to start with the feature film, and then create a bridge to the second feature with a season of TV episodes. That means the feature cast—and the big star who’ll play Deschain—also has to appear in the TV series before returning to the second film. After that sequel is done, the TV series picks up again, this time focusing on Deschain as a young gunslinger. Those storylines will be informed by a prequel comic book series that King was heavily involved in plotting. The third film would pick up the mature Deshain as he completes his journey. They will benefit from being able to use the same sets cast and crew for the movie and TV, which could help contain costs on what will be a financially ambitious undertaking.”
THE DARK TOWER follows Roland Deschain, who survives as the only remaining member of a knightly order of gunslingers. His task is to save a civilization that is at risk of being destroyed unless he finds The Dark Tower. He is mankind’s last hope.
I haven’t read THE DARK TOWER… not a single page. But I absolutely amazed by the grand scope of this project. We’ve seen minor crossover and tie-ins done before, but never anything like this, where a movie and TV show would work hand-in-hand with telling the same story. This is more than just using one to help the other… this is a case where one aspect of the entire project relies on the others. The TV series relies on the movie, and vice versa… and I love it.
This is what the LOST fans have been hoping for in the absence of their show, and what hopefully others will embrace. This is an engrossing, all-encompassing experience that you can throw yourself in wholeheartedly, because there’s always going to be more to the story until it ends. In between movies, you’ll have TV seasons to keep you engaged, give you deeper elements of the story, flush out the characters, etc.
The story is big enough where fans now don’t have to worry about finer details and nuances being glossed over due to time constraints. With the HARRY POTTER series or the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, there were things that had to be left out, because they weren’t important to the major points of the stories. There were all types of re-arrangements done, and characters’ responsibilities changed, and, while it worked out fine, it could have been something even bigger. THE DARK TOWER doesn’t have to worry about such limitations, and, if they can make it work, this might change the relationship film and television have in the future, no longer having to work exclusively, but able to attach incredible projects like this in tandem for a huge payoff and great results.
