Stephen King’s “Dark Tower”
Series adaptation is progressing
Expert on horror in general and Stephen King in particular: Mike Flanagan.
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The series adaptation of “Dark Tower” is getting closer. Director Mike Flanagan sees the project on the right track despite the writers’ strike.
In December 2022, Mike Flanagan (45) announced that he was working on a series version of Stephen King’s (75) novel series “The Dark Tower”. But since then not much has been heard about the heart project of the “Haunted Hill House” maker. Now Flanagan has given an update. “This is the stuff I would most like to do,” he affirmed according to media reports during an interview at the Tribeca Film Festival.
After an appeal by the Writers Guild of America, American screenwriters are currently on strike. Nevertheless, Mike Flanagan is “very optimistic that we’re on the right track” with regard to “The Dark Tower”. He owns the rights to the work and works with “good partners”. “We can’t talk about it, but I think it’s going to happen,” the filmmaker continued. “I can’t say for sure, but it’s looking good, so I hope it works.”
Film adaptation of “The Dark Tower” failed in 2017
Stephen King published the series “The Dark Tower” in eight novels and one short story between 1982 and 2012. The author described the fantasy saga with elements of horror and westerns as his most important work.
A theatrical adaptation of The Dark Tower was released in 2017. The film, starring Matthew McConaughey (53) and Idris Elba (50), fell through with both critics and the box office. A planned franchise fell through. Mike Flanagan is planning an adaptation in the form of five series seasons and two films.
Flanagan has established itself in recent years as one of the specialists for sophisticated horror. After a series of feature films, such as “Oculus”, which was acclaimed by genre experts, he created various series for Netflix. As producer, author and director, he brought to life “Haunted Hill House”, “Haunted Bly Manor”, “Midnight Mass” and “Goosebumps at Midnight”.
As a horror expert, Mike Flanagan was of course particularly taken with Stephen King. In 2017 he filmed his novel “The Game”, also for Netflix. His adaptation of Doctor Sleeps Awakening, King’s sequel to his classic The Shining, was released in cinemas.