Despite some big winners, 2017 was disappointing at the box office for movies. Several properties had underperforming sequels, while other franchise starters crashed and burned upon arrival. The Dark Tower is one of the latter, after it scored a minimal take at the box office combined with poor reviews. The failure is all the more apparent when you remember that this movie was originally meant to launch a whole Dark Tower universe, complete with an accompanying TV series. The status of this series has always been up in the air, but new words from Idris Elba don't paint a better picture.
No one can fault The Dark Tower project for being ambitious. Way back when it was first announced, the plan was to make a series of movies that connected to a TV show, with characters bouncing back and forth between the two. It was an interconnected media universe that would have even made Marvel Studios' head spin, but there's never been any significant progress to making this a reality. Recently, Stephen King said that the TV series might just reboot everything. This was news to the star of the movie, Idris Elba, who has zero clues as to what is happening with The Dark Tower.
You know what? I didn't know Steven said that. I don't know, actually, where it lies. I must figure this out, I don't know where it lies. I'm unfortunately the last to know at this point.
When asked by ScreenCrush what he knew about Stephen King's claim that a Dark Tower TV series might start from scratch, Idris Elba could only say that he doesn't know anything. Actors are usually the last to know these things anyway, but that hardly leaves much confidence in what's going on with this franchise. Elba's confusion matches all of ours at this point. Word on the street was that a potential series could have involved Elba in some way, but it's getting increasingly harder to see that happening.
Following its disappointing performance, it seems unlikely that a Dark Tower movie sequel is in the works. That just leaves a TV series, which was rumored to involve side characters from the novels, with the potential of the movie characters cameoing. The Dark Tower has always proven to be a difficult nut to crack, with novels that don't lend themselves easily to adaptation. The movie had to ultimately go in its own direction with several differences from the books, which didn't sit well with some fans.
At this point, it's anyone's guess as to what's going on with The Dark Tower but keeping checking in with CinemaBlend and we'll provide any updates. There's plenty of TV shows that we do know about though, so check out our midseason premiere and cancellation guides.
