Mike Flanagan, the acclaimed director behind adaptations of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep and Gerald's Game, has promised a faithful adaptation of The Dark Tower, Stephen King's epic fantasy saga. This commitment is further solidified by an exclusive reveal from IGN: Stephen King himself is collaborating with Flanagan on the project.
In an interview promoting The Monkey, King confirmed his involvement, stating, "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."
The Essentials: Stephen King's Dark Tower Multiverse
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The Dark Tower, a sprawling work encompassing much of King's fiction, began with The Gunslinger in 1970. King's contribution to Flanagan's adaptation remains shrouded in mystery, though his previous epilogue for Paramount+'s The Stand series offers a glimpse into his approach. The scale of The Dark Tower presents numerous opportunities for King to expand upon his established mythology.
Flanagan's commitment to fidelity is reassuring, especially after the 2017 film's less-than-successful attempt to condense the sprawling narrative. In a 2022 interview with IGN, Flanagan stated his intention to remain true to the source material, emphasizing that "it would look like the books" and rejecting the idea of transforming it into something like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. He further explained: "It is what it is, what it is is perfect. It's just as exciting as all of those things and just as immersive. It's a story about a tiny group of people, all the odds in the whole world are against them, and they come together. As long as it's that, it'll be fine and there won't be a dry eye in the house."
While the release date and format of Flanagan's adaptation remain undisclosed, he has several other King projects underway, including The Life of Chuck, slated for a May theatrical release, and a Carrie series for Amazon, based on King's 1974 novel.
