Another Attempt at The Dark Tower TV Series

Almost two years ago Amazon passed on a possible TV adaptation of The Dark Tower. Now it seems they will have another shot at the apple. Amazon recently sign Intrepid Pictures to a production deal, stealing creative duo Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy from Netflix The pair were behind The Haunting, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club. A move that angered Netflix so they immediately cancelled The Midnight Club. The pair also worked on Doctor Sleep and Gerald's Game adaptations. 

Flanagan has written a pilot episode and a five season outline for the show. This does not mean the show will be on Amazon. The franchise has a contract exception but likely they will give Amazon first dibs to show interest. Considering previous plans for a TV and movies around this franchise has repeatedly fizzled, do not get your hopes up anytime soon. Full interview about this is at Deadline but above is the key highlights.

Amazon Passes On The Dark Tower TV Series

It has been nearly a year since heard any news on the TV/movie front for The Dark Tower. Sadly when finally do, it is not good but instead likely the final nail in the live action adaptation coffin. Amazon has officially passed on The Dark Tower pilot. Executive producer Glen Mazzara is still shopping the show around with 2 possible scripts. The show will not be that cheap to produce so its really only Amazon or Netflix. Amazon just passed, Netflix is going to refuse any Amazon cast offs. None of the second or third tier cable channels can afford it. As for other streaming services, Hulu, HBO Go, Peacock, CBS All Access, etc are all out for similar reasons - if they don't own the intellectual property (IP) they are not inclined to move forward with it. Between the failed 2017 film and this bit if news, it is safe to assume that the adaptation of The Dark Tower series is dead for the foreseeable future.

The Dark Tower TV Series Gets TWD Showrunner

One time The Walking Dead show runner Glen Mazzara has been hired to as show runner of The Dark Tower TV series. The series is expected to focus on the back story of Roland Deschain which was covered in the Wizard and Glass novel along with most of Marvel's comics around the series. Idris Elba is signed on for the series but I doubt in a major role but probably more to introduce the series since most of the story is Deschain as a teenager. The hiring seems to be a show of confidence from Sony in light of the overwhelmingly bad reviews for the movie which best be summed up as overly simplified and bland.

Dark Tower Magnum Opus Featurette

Here is a new featurette for The Dark Tower. Has a few seconds of new scenes.

The Dark Tower Clocks in at 95 Minutes

It looks like the group behind The Dark Tower movie really cut a ton of chaff from The Dark Tower books as the movie will come in at a brisk 95 minutes. Part of that could be because a significant portion of the movie is based the Gunslinger which is the shortest book in the series by far. More then likely they just went with the through line of good guy vs bad guy and cut everything else around that. Director Nikolaj Arcel later commented on the length:

“The good news here…the reason why many fans are worried about the run time is that they think we are trying to do everything in this film. Which we are not. This is ideally the first film. This is an introduction to the world and the characters. It’s not meant to be all the novels and we’re just trying to cram everything in there. So that’s one thing. And the script was really lean and tight. When I got on board, the script was very short, very lean. That’s one of the things that attracted me to it. I said ‘This is smart.’ You start with a lean, mean story and you don’t try to cram everything in there. You just build the basic ideas. And if people enjoy it and if they like this world and these characters, we can start expanding.”

The Dark Tower Release Delayed A Week

The Dark Tower is getting another delay as the studio has decided to move the movie's release date from July 28 to August 4. Columbia swapped its date with The Emoji Movie so that the movie can get more screen time for younger viewers before school starts. Since The Dark Tower skews older and releasing on tale end of summer movie season, the move will probably have no real effect on box office gains as that number will rely entirely on how successful the marketing campaign is for the movie since the average movie goer has likely never hard of The Dark Tower be it in book form or otherwise.

Description of First Footage of The Dark Tower

In Las Vegas, the annual studio and theater owner meeting called CinemaCon is being held. It is basically a meeting of the extremely wealthy for a week long party. The "work" part is watching the studios sales pitch their summer movies hoping to encourage access to more screens whenever possible for what they hope will be massive opening weekends. As a result the theater execs get feted with early footage, entire movies, and celebs meet and greets. The events are closed to the public and some of the press are allowed but since its for summer movies no recordings are allowed and the studios rarely release the footage to the public. The Dark Tower was one such movie to do its pitch. Below is the description of the footage according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The footage opens with a look at a door frame standing free in the middle of a barren landscape. It then it cuts to Roland in the desert as the famous opening line to King's The Gunslinger, the first volume in the series, is displayed on screen: "The Man in Black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed.” The footage gives a strong idea of just what The Man in Black is capable of, and it's scarily creepy. Roland and The Man in Black then square off, with Roland telling the villain, "I do not kill with my gun, I kill with my heart." He fires at The Man in Black, who catches the bullet from behind his back.

The footage then cuts to the young boy Jake, who lives in New York but has dreams of Roland and a Dark Tower that must stay standing or else billions will die. Jake's therapist tried to tell him it's a dream, but Jake doesn't believe it. Soon, he is shown exploring an abandoned building, where he discovers a portal that takes him to Roland's world.

Soon, he presents Roland with one of the drawings the boy made of him from his dreams, and Roland explains that as long as The Man in Black is out there, the Tower will fall and Hell will follow.

There are slow-mo shots, including a big fight between the Gunslinger and The Man in Black, as well as an extended look at Roland's prowess with his guns: when Jake is kidnapped, Roland shoots the man who did it from hundreds of yards away, simply by listening to where the bad guy is.

The description is light on details so not particularly spoilerish. However if you want a spoiler and opinion filled description of the same footage head over to AICN. The main takeaway is while the novels themselves had a very light sci-fi touch mostly by indicating that Roland's Western-like present with early 1800s tech was built on the long ago destruction (likely nuclear) of an advanced society (circa the 21st century as imagined in the 1980s), that formula has been flipped by the movie. The emphasis seemed to be on the sci-fi elements with the Western part being retained only via the Gunslinger himself. Of course this is based on just a short snippet so for die hard fans it might be a cause of concern but best to take a wait and see approach.

Dark Tower Reveals the Sombra App

It turns out last week's Entertainment Weekly cover has a secret that an app can reveal. Head over to The Sombra Group for the link for the Apple or Android version of the app for a little Augmented Reality on the cover that other tidbits that only die hard Dark Tower fans will currently get. If curious or (like me) can't be bothered, head over to Consequence of Sound for the full details of what the app currently reveals.

Entertainment Weekly Reveals More Details About The Dark Tower

Entertainment Weekly has released a few of the articles that will appear in their new issue that should hit newsstands starting tomorrow. Probably the most important bit is a huge spoiler for those that have not read the book is the movie has been verified as a sequel to the novels. From director Nikolaj Arcel, "The hardcore fans of The Dark Tower series will know that this is actually a sequel to the books in a way. It has a lot of the same elements, a lot of the same characters, but it is a different journey." The reason it can be a sequel is in the novels Roland Deschain in his quest to reach the Dark Tower. It turns out very early in his quest he lost the very thing he needed to complete the quest - the Horn of Eld. The novels ended with him once again in possession of the Horn but starting his quest from the beginning. Assuming the first movie is successful, the hope is the can tell the full story of Roland's final attempt to reach the Tower and save his world. Below are other highlights from the articles linked below. EW Articles: Overview | Changes from Books | Idris Elba | Matthew McConaughey | EW Image Gallery Summary: - A scene set in New York being filmed involved the Taheen who are "demonic, half-human creatures" who disguise themselves with masks that are "given away by a scar-like read seam running down the sides of their necks." - Elba on Roland: "There’s a mystical element to him. He’s about 200 years old. He’s been around for a long time, and has a deep-rooted connection with the [supernatural] nature of the film. Roland’s completely tuned into that. When you meet him, he’s very much a stoic man, doesn’t want to talk. But when you get to know him, he really knows quite a bit about the world and his world’s history. And he very much knows the way The Man in Black works. He’s so clued up on that, which is what frustrates him. Because he can’t catch him." - Stephen King did provide input on the script during various drafts. An example, "I took a pen and cut Roland’s dialogue to the bone. The less he says the better off, and why not? Idris Elba can act with his face. He’s terrific at it. He projects that sense of combined menace and security. [Roland] is the Western hero, the strong, silent type: ‘Yep,’ ‘Nope,’ and ‘Draw.’" - The movie takes bit and pieces from all 8 novels for inspiration, with a focus on the themes of sacrifice, friendship, accepting the past. - Eddie and Susannah are not in the first movie but would be in a sequel along with their pet called Oy - Matthew McConaughey on Walter, the Man in Black: "They wanted to go very human and grounded with this. Obviously there are mythical proportions of good and evil in Walter. But we didn’t want to go overly fantastic. That would drop the humanity. So Walter, for me, is a man who exposes hypocrisies. You know, he’s not literally the Devil, but I sure as hell think about him like the Devil. I think like the Devil would. I [Walter] revere [Roland]. He’s really the only true adversary I have. I expose hypocrisies, and he’s the closest to pure there is. It’s his persistent, resilience to be good and altruistic. He’s very precious to me. I almost don’t want to see him go. My want, my need, my mission is to bring down the Tower. My love, my adoration, my muse, my shadow, is Roland." - Walter is always searching for "Breakers" and in New York there is a young boy called Jake that is strong in "The Shine" which would be very helpful breaking the beams that support the Tower. Since Walter wants Jake, so does Roland. As Elba says "Until he meets Jake, he doesn’t have anything to believe in, really. He’s really pent up and releases his soul through [defending] the boy."

Stephen Kings Reveals New Hook to The Dark Tower

Spoiler warning for the end of The Dark Tower books and the movie. In a single tweet, long time fans of The Dark Tower books suddenly had complete understanding of why it appears the upcoming movie doesn't follow the books and why. From the various casting decisions made, it appears that very little of the first Dark Tower film is going to follow the books in a familiar way. Characters and some situations may echo the books but already its clear that the movie is a kind of "inspired by" take. A take that Stephen King has supported. To start, a little background (spoiler warning). The AV Club summarizes it best "The Dark Tower saga centers around a guy named Roland who is on a quest to reach the eponymous tower and stop a villain called the Crimson King from using it to destroy all of reality. When he gets there, he’s supposed to triumphantly blow the Horn Of Eld, an object that has been passed down through his family for generations. However, when the reader meets Roland in the first book, he has long since lost the horn. Therefore, he’s unable to blow it when he reaches the Dark Tower, so when he tries to finally finish his seven-book adventure by entering the room at the top, he—last warning—gets sucked back into the very beginning of the first book and loses all of his memories. ...Tellingly, though, Roland has the horn when he starts his quest anew, suggesting that his next attempt will really be his last." From this, now this tweet has new meaning:

The Dark Tower is close, now. The Crimson King awaits. Soon Roland will raise the Horn of Eld. And blow. pic.twitter.com/rqGSKM3dWL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 19, 2016

In short, the books are Roland Deschain's first attempt to reach The Dark Tower and save reality. The movie (and hoped for sequels) will be Roland's second and final attempt.

New Director Set for The Dark Tower Movie; TV Series in Works

In a bit of a surprise, plans for The Dark Tower have moved into a positive direction for the second time in a row as a director has been found. Nikolaj Arcel has been tapped to direct the first movie of what Sony Pictures is hoping to be a franchise of movies. Arcel directed "A Royal Affair" and co-write the critically acclaimed Swedish version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". This is still in negotiations so it could change. The director reveals also confirmed that plans for the franchise still include a complementary TV series that will be produced by Media Rights Capital. No further details on that. The original plan, before two studios backed out due to cost, had been to do at least three movies with two TV series in between each movie. Now it seems the same approach is in play but instead of trying to get financing for the whole thing up front, they are taking a one segment at a time approach.

The Dark Tower Rises Again At Sony Pictures

Deadline is reporting that Stephen King's The Dark Tower movies are back on. Sony Pictures has signed on along with MRC to co-finance The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. For the last three or so years producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer have been trying to get the property off the ground using various script versions written by Akiva Goldsman. Both Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. considered making movies off of the ambitious series that might include a movie trilogy and several TV series. However they eventually passed, most likely because of the high costs involved for such an unproven property. The Sony Pictures version is a completely re-written script that probably drops the cost of the movie down and I suspect doesn't force a trilogy or other sequels unless the first movie proves itself at the box office. Basically the ambitious "Lord of the Rings" like planning that went into the series is now gone and I suspect they are going to do the series one movie at a time just like most franchises. Probably for the best as the studios are wary of spending a whole lot of money up front with no guarantee of return. While The Dark Tower has its die hard fans, it really isn't as huge a series as many think and probably the average movie goer has no knowledge of it. The books themselves, while imaginative, can be difficult to slog through at times. Also, in classic King tradition, the endings of each of the novels are weak with the final novel of the series having the kind of ending that only a literature freak would love. None are ideal for a movie so it will be interesting to see how things are re-written to please mainstream audiences globally. Of course there is still a long process to go. Sony may be willing but still need a director, cast, budget and a whole lot more so even if Sony were to fast track this, we are probably looking at a 2017 to 2018 release date at a minimum.

The Dark Tower Not Yet Dead

Deadline is reporting that Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have not yet given up on bringing The Dark Tower to the big screen. With an assist from screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and Stephen King, they group has scaled back their initial plan of three movies and two series to a single movie. If that one movie does well, they they will move forward with a sequel. Media Rights Capital has signed on to this new plan and Grazer is trying to get additional funds from a Silicon Valley investor. This does not mean a movie will be made (yet), it just means that the Grazer and company are getting closer to putting together the money required to get at least one movie made to potentially kick off a "Dark Tower" franchise. Time will tell if this new, slower paced (but standard for studio system) plan will work. Thanks to Ghola for the info.

The Dark Tower Trilogy Is Dead as WB Passes

It looks like Ron Howard and Brian Grazer last gasp to save The Dark Tower failed. Variety is reporting that Warner Bros has decided to pass on the movie trilogy. No reason has been given. Stephen King commented on the rejection saying "The Dark Tower, to me, and I’m not unbiased because I’m the writer on this thing, but to me it looks like gold on the ground waiting to be picked up." More than likely the costs (my guess is $500 million+ range) and little confidence that The Dark Tower has mass market appeal was the reason behind the decision.

The decision really isn't surprising as the studios rarely want to commit that kind of capital without the deck being stacked in their favor of getting the money back. While The Lord of the Rings and (later) the Hobbit all sold as a trilogy from day one, they are also the only two examples of that ever happening. All other film trilogies were after the fact, only when the first film proved to be successful. Those involved might have had a trilogy in mind but having all three contractually guaranteed to be made just doesn't happen outside of the Tolkien films. The Lord of the Rings almost wasn't made except that New Line's Bob Shaye saw something then that all the other studios didn't (who based on the now billions of dollar franchise). The only reason The Dark Tower had a reach chance of getting green lit was because studios are just as terrified of missing the next Lord of the Rings scale money maker as they are paying for it.

Warner Bros Climbing The Dark Tower?

It seems that The Dark Tower films might get resurrected after being assumed dead. The initial plan was three films paid for and released through Universal Pictures while two limited TV series would run on NBC or a sister network. However parent company Comcast balked at the proposed budget. A lower cost script and plan was attempted but that was also rejected by Comcast executives.

Since then producer Brian Grazer said HBO expressed interested in the TV show aspect of the plan but nothing seemed to being on the movie front. According to Deadline this has no changed as Warner Bros seem to be close to signing a deal to have Ron Howard direct the first film with Akiva Goldsman making a script polish to meet WB's, not Universal's, notes for the film. This would then give the TV series side to HBO.

The Dark Tower Cancelled by Universal (Updated)

Despite Imagine Entertainment's efforts to reduce the cost of The Dark Tower trilogy and two TV series, it apparently wasn't enough. Deadline reports that NBC Universal passed on the adaptation due to the costs and the risks involved. No one is talking specifics but reading between the lines it is likely the executives for Comcast (Universal's corporate parent) stepped in and nixed the project.

The current theory is the studio decided to commit its budget to making Battleship and 47 Ronin. My theory is Comcast, whose bad reputation is well earned, likes to play things extremely safe and on the cheap as much as possible. The Dark Tower was going to be very expensive with no guarantees of success along with source material that isn't exactly movie friendly so the concerns are valid.

The main problem is that most studios loath to take "used" projects, especially ones as public at The Dark Tower. While it is possible it could be shopped to another studio, I suspect this will be the end of any hope of adaptation for at least a few years, if ever. I will keep the blog open for a while long just in case things change but to be blunt I don't have much hope.

Update: Stephen King spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the cancellation.

“I’m sorry Universal passed, but not really surprised. As a rule, they’ve been about smaller and less risky pix; maybe they feel it would be better to stick with those fast and furious racing boys. I bear them no ill will, and trust Ron Howard to get Roland and his friends before the camera somewhere else. He’s very committed to the project.”

The Dark Tower Gets Release Date

Universal has released a slate of release dates for multiple movies they seem committed too making. On of them was for the The Dark Tower. The film, which will be directed by Ron Howard, has a release day of Friday, May 17th, 2013. A very long wait for fans but finally proof that an end is in site on seeing at least one of the novels translated for the screen. The initial plan includes a TV series so not entirely sure if this means the series will start before or after the first movie is released.

The Dark Tower Trilogy, TV Series Planned

At one time JJ Abrams was a contender to take Stephen King's epic series and bring it to movies screens worldwide. Back in April, Abrams plans were dashed when Ron Howard and Brian Grazer took over the potential franchise. Since then nothing was heard. Finally it seems there is movement on the picture with an ambitious plan involving both the TV and movie divisions at Universal (which owns NBC).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the overall goal is to take the seven books in the series, along with comics that fill out The Gunslingers life story and create a trilogy of films with a TV series that will act as bridges to each sequel. The first film will be directed by Ron Howard and written by Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman. The pair previously worked together on A Beautiful Mind, Angels & Demons, and The Da Vinci Code.

"I've been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world," King said. "Ron, Akiva, Brian along with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the 'The Dark Tower' series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the origins and the characters in 'The Dark Tower' that fans have come to love."

Howard, Grazer and Goldsman plan first film in the trilogy to be immediately followed by a TV series that will bridge the second film. After the second film, the TV series will show the adventures of The Gunslinger as a young man as a bridge to the third film and beyond.

"The worlds of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' series are richly detailed, inter-locking and deeply connected," Goldsman said. "By telling this story across media platforms and over multiple hours--and with a view to telling it completely--we have our best chance of translating Roland's quest to reach 'The Dark Tower' onto screen. We are proceeding with tremendous excitement, fidelity to the source material and, quite frankly, no small amount of awe at this opportunity."

This seems like an incredibly ambitious plan for a series of books that is going to be very difficult to translate to film. It should be interesting to see if this plays out but I suspect that these initial plans will undergo multiple changes.

Abrams Loses Dark Tower to Ron Howard

THR's Heat Vision Blog reports that J.J. Abram's Bad Robot production company has lost the rights to Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series. Instead Imagine Entertainment, lead by the long time team of Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Akiva Goldsman are in discussion to secure the rights from King. The plan is the turn the seven book series into a three movie trilogy followed by a TV series.

Last year, while promoting the DVD release of Star Trek, Abrams said "The ‘Dark Tower’ thing is tricky. It’s such an important piece of writing. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now." I guess their inaction as Abrams is occupied with a lot of other projects is behind the reason for losing the rights.

As a fan of the series, I do not envy the person that has to translate those seven books into a film. I imagine the approach will be much like the Lord of the Rings where entire sections of the books will be skipped over. I just wonder how they will handle the ending (which has always been King's weakness) of the epic series.