Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Dark Tower to Film and TV!

Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series is one of the most beloved genre works in literature. Spanning seven books (and an eighth on the way), many King fans consider this series the writer's master work.

And, for as long as such things have been relevant, there have been rumors about the series' adaptation to film or television.

Well, according to a number of sources, the encompassing story of The Dark Tower might be adapted as both! From a recent article at cinematical.com:

The plan, as revealed by Deadline, is to adapt the series as a combination of feature films and TV seasons. Basically, what they'll be doing is kicking things off with a feature film, which will be followed by a season on television that will bridge the gap to the second film.

They'll then repeat the process, creating a second TV show to bridge the gaps from the second film to its final film. So for a quick recap: the creative trio masterminding it think it's going to take (at least) three films and two seasons of television to properly tell the story of Roland the Gunslinger.


The first film and the first TV season will be directed by Ron Howard (!) and Stephen King will be a producer throughout the entire course of the story. The films and television series will include direct adaptations from the novels as well as expanded stories dealing with Roland's childhood--taken from the excellent Marvel comics series.

I'm currently on Book Four of the novels, and I'm all caught up with the comics series, and I have to say, as a fan of the series...this looks good. Very good. I like that King is being kept very much in the loop, and Ron Howard has a good track record with, well, pretty much everything he's done.

How 'bout you guys? Any thoughts on the series being adapted? Any casting calls?

2 comments:

Scott said...

I'm at "grudgingly optimistic." I mean, this kind of thing happens all the time and then the project just dies in development hell.

One thing I worry about is Jake; he's supposed to be the same age throughout the series, but if they do it this way... yeah.

AJG said...

I'm with you, but maybe a little more optimistic--maybe kind of grudgingly optimistic.

I like the people involved, and I like the fact that Stephen King will be an active part of the production.

Typically, he just sells the rights (many times for $1, actually), and isn't involved at all.

It's a massive undertaking, though, and plenty could go wrong...