Stephen King Praises Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Dark Tower’ Adaptation

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Legendary horror author Stephen King, fondly known as the “Horror King”, has endorsed Mike Flanagan’s forthcoming adaptation of ‘The Dark Tower’. Flanagan is working on a TV series adaptation for Amazon Studios based on the intricate and genre-blending saga. Though the exact release date remains uncertain, King’s endorsement serves as the most optimistic update yet for fans eagerly awaiting this adaption.

In a recent conversation on The Kingcast podcast, as reported by Bloody Disgusting, King expressed admiration for Flanagan’s adaptation of his extensive book series.

In what I’ve reviewed, which includes screenplays and pitch ideas, his starting point is spot-on. The rhythm of the plot points, or “beats,” fits perfectly, absolutely perfectly.

Stephen King, a renowned figure in horror literature, considers “The Dark Tower” series as his masterpiece. Back in 2022, Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy’s production company, Intrepid Pictures, secured the rights to King’s story. They subsequently signed a multi-year deal with Amazon Studios, leading many to speculate that the streaming platform will adapt the dark fantasy epic. Flanagan shared with Deadline that…

Before our agreement with Amazon, we obtained the rights to The Dark Tower series, a project I’ve long considered my personal quest or life-long dream. While there is still potential for Amazon to support this project in the future, we have independently developed and are deeply invested in bringing it to fruition at some point.

The narrative of “The Dark Tower” follows Roland Deschain, the last survivor of Mid-World’s gunfighters, as he journeys across a desolate post-apocalyptic world in pursuit of the enigmatic Dark Tower. Stephen King is presently engaged in writing the third book of his trilogy based on “The Talisman.” This novel resides within the same interconnected universe as the “Dark Tower” series and features some common themes. Previously, Flanagan expressed his hope that the upcoming series might inspire movies for the “Dark Tower” saga.

Flanagan’s ‘Dark Tower’ Will Have a Better Chance Than the First Adaptation

Previously, the epic eight-book fantasy series has been adapted before. In 2017, a film titled The Dark Tower, featuring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, hit the screens. This film was only loosely inspired by Stephen King’s novel and received mixed reviews, with a 44% score on Popcornmeter and a 16% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite its poor box office performance, King didn’t fault the script adaptation. Instead, he praised screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, telling Entertainment Weekly that he believed Goldsman had done “an impressive job in extracting a central part of the book and transforming it into what I felt was a decent movie.

According to the author, his opinion is that the primary cause for the movie not gaining a large number of followers was the way the production company handled it.

In my opinion, the core issue here lies in the decision to make this film suitable for a PG-13 rating, which seems to have been mandated by the studio. They aim to create a “tentpole movie,” attracting viewers from ages 12 to around 35.

The decision to maintain a PG-13 rating for the story resulted in it losing much of the grittiness found in the original novels. Yet, this new adaptation might outperform its predecessor due to advantages like broader reach and fewer constraints on content. Streaming platforms, being less restrictive, are beneficial in this regard, as demonstrated by Flanagan’s past adaptations which are renowned for their uncompromising nature.

Mike Flanagan has previously taken on the challenge of adapting Stephen King works, having directed “Gerald’s Game” and “Doctor Sleep”. Together with Carla Macy, he also created the critically acclaimed Netflix series “The Haunting of Hill House”, as well as “The Fall of the House of Usher” which is based on the timeless tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Flanagan’s upcoming movie, “The Life of Chuck”, is an adaptation of one of King’s short stories. This film, a sci-fi drama, boasts a star-studded cast including Tom Hiddleston, Kate Siegel, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, Jacob Tremblay, and Mia Sara. Given his proven track record of bringing King’s intricate, imaginative, genre-crossing stories to life, Flanagan appears to be an ideal candidate for revisiting “The Dark Tower”.

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2025-01-31 19:05