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Director Mike Flanagan recently spoke about his potential TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, including how he thinks the 2017 film version could hurt his chances of making the series.
Flanagan has made a name for himself on Netflix directing well-received horror series like The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and The Night Owl Club. He recently began working with Amazon Studios on new TV projects, hoping to create a longer-running adaptation of King’s multi-volume The Dark Tower, which began with the first volume of Gunslinger in 1982. The 2017 film version, which served as more of a spin-off sequel than a true adaptation, starred the likes of Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey and looked like it would be a hit with King fans. However, the film’s failure may have dampened Hollywood’s enthusiasm for King stories.
Flanagan recently revealed that he thinks the film’s failure could rob him of his chances of making a series.
It was the wrong approach to the material, sort of on all counts, and it was such a wrong approach that I think he kind of sprinkled salt on the ground for anyone else who would like to release something under the banner of The Dark Tower on the unknown how much time.
Flanagan acquired the rights to adapt King’s The Dark Tower last year, but the pace of the series’ launch on Amazon has slowed.
He mentioned a lesser-known previous adaptation by Amazon that created one pilot episode in 2020 but was canceled before it even started. Although the show’s life was short, developing The Dark Tower and filming one episode cost Amazon a significant amount of time and money.
Now this is my TV studio and I can see how you can go to them and say, “Hey, would you like to go through the same title that you spent all this money on and that you still have bruises.” I understand these issues.
Flanagan is reportedly ready to start working on his vision for King’s work, with the script for the first episode completed and five seasons in the pipeline. As director of 2019’s Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, and 2017’s Gerald’s Game, Flanagan is no stranger to adapting King.
Flanagan, who has successfully conquered the horror genre in recent years, has been less successful with his film credits, including Doctor Sleep, which flopped at the box office and may have cost Flanagan a potential prequel to HBO’s The Shining, centered on the famed Overlook Hotel. Despite smaller audiences, his literary adaptations, including Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Christopher Pike’s The Night Owl Club, and an upcoming Netflix miniseries based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, continue to gain worldwide interest and recognition. streaming. And what about the “Dark Tower”? Time will show.
