Mike Flanagan Is Working Closely with Stephen King on THE DARK TOWER TV Adaptation: "I'm Not Gonna Let Him Down" — GeekTyrant
Mike Flanagan is still hard at work developing his adaptation of Stephen King's magnum opus The Dark Tower series, and according to the filmmaker, it's just taking time because, well… it's that big.
In a recent interview with ComicBook, Flanagan offered a candid update when asked about the long-gestating project:
'It's not that I've put it down. It's just that the thing is so big, it's like building an oil tanker. We've been moving it forward this whole time.
'It's just, that's how big it is. It's constantly in the works, and you better believe as often as you guys may want to ask about it, Stephen King is asking me about it more, and I'm not gonna let him down.'
Flanagan is 100% committed to the project and he's collaborating directly with the author himself. King even confirmed earlier this year that he's actively writing material for the series:
'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.'
While Flanagan's Dark Tower hasn't landed at a streamer or officially gone into production yet, it is fully outlined. The plan is to make it a five-season series that gives the epic eight-book saga the breathing room it needs.
If there's anyone who will be able to do it right, it's Flanagan. His track record with King's work speaks for itself: Gerald's Game , Doctor Sleep , and the upcoming The Life of Chuck , which hits theaters June 6. All these projects have all shown he gets the tone, the heart, and the horror that comes with adapting King's work. He's also developing a new take on Carrie .
When Flanagan first announced the project, he said that the pilot script is 'one of my favorite things I've ever gotten to work on.' He shared at the time:
'I wrote a pilot, we view it as a as a series that's going at least five seasons. And having lived with this project as long as I have, I have an enormous amount of it worked out in my brain.
'But I have a pilot script I'm thrilled with and a very detailed outline for the first season and a broader outline for the subsequent seasons.
'I think eventually, if we're able to get it going, there are some other writers I want to fold into that process whom I've worked with before; I think they would be really fabulous for a very small, intimate writers room where we can continue to break it.
'I'll tell you, more than half of my life, I've closed my eyes and been able to watch a lot of this play out, I've dreamed about this.
'That first shot which comes right off at the first incredible sentence of the first book, The Gunslinger, I've had that image just rattling around in my head since I was an undergrad. It's going to have to get out of there eventually, I really need to get it out of my head.
'The pilot script is one of my favorite things I've ever gotten to work on. It's been surreal working on that. So we've been floored and grateful that Stephen King trusts us with such an undertaking, something so precious to him, and we hope to find the right partners to realize it.'
The director has been adamant that his adaptation will stick as close to the source material as possible. Back in 2022, Flanagan said:
'It would look like the books. The way not to do The Dark Tower is to try to turn it into something else, to try to make it Star Wars or make it Lord of the Rings .
'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.'
I cant wait to see what he does with this story!
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