The vast universe that makes up The Dark Tower book series has long vexed Hollywood talents hoping to adapt Stephen King’s lofty fantasy epic, but horror mastermind Mike Flanagan looks to be the savior who will finally pull it off. He already has the bestselling author in his corner, having successfully handled prior adaptations of the seemingly unfilmable Gerald’s Game and the Shining follow-up Doctor Sleep, but now they’re full-on working together to bring Roland Deschain to life.
That’s right, as revealed by the Gunslinger scribe himself, Flanagan’s live-action Dark Tower series is able to boast having Stephen King in the writers room. (At least metaphorically, as I’m not at all sure where he actually works from.) While speaking with IGN about Oz Perkins’ gleefully gory adaptation The Monkey, King dropped the most magnificent news possible, saying:
All I can say is it's happening. I am writing stuff now and I think that's all I want to say because the next thing you know, I'll stir up a bunch of stuff I don't necessarily want to stir up yet. I'm in process right now, and to say too much feels like a jinx.
Wisely, the King of Horror immediately blew everyone's minds with the big news and then just as immediately blocked off that informational avenue, leaving us all to wonder exactly how much input the iconic author will have in the final product.
No stranger to transitions his own literature to both the big and small screens, Stephen King most recently put his efforts into adapting Lisey’s Story for Apple TV+, and previously helmed scripts for Cell, A Good Marriage and an episode of Under the Dome. (A couple of those are probably best forgotten.) And that’s just from the last decade or so.
In a more limited fashion, King crafted a prologue for the streaming miniseries The Stand, but it sounds like he’s cooking up something a bit more complicated and extensive for Dark Tower fans. It’s unclear at this point if the new written material for the series that he’d previously talked about will be involved, or if it helped spark the inspiration to join the TV series, but we’re grateful all the same. Combined with news about The Talisman 3, the future is looking nice and…well, bleak, but in a good way.
Casting Stephen King's Dark Tower With Mike Flanagan Regulars In The Main Roles
Mike Flanagan is as busy as anyone can be in Hollywood, so having Stephen King on board as part of the creative process is hopefully a reassuring boost. The Haunting of Hill House creator is balancing Dark Tower with his upcoming Exorcist movie, while also working on a Carrie TV show. Not to mention the Clayface screenplay he wrote for James Gunn’s DCU.
Hopefully Flanagan isn’t too busy to deliver Dark Tower as soon as humanly (or otherwise) possible, even if it isn’t part of the 2025 TV schedule.
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