Posted in: Amazon Studios, Movies, TV | Tagged: stephen king, The Dark Tower

Dark Tower: Mike Flanagan's Update Will Make Stephen King Fans Happy

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan offered an update on his adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" universe: "It’s the first priority."

With all our focus on his upcoming series adaptation of the bestselling author's classic novel, Carrie, we nearly forgot that Mike Flanagan has been working with Trevor Macy and Intrepid Pictures on a television series and film adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" universe. Now, thanks to a recent conversation with Empire, we have some intel to pass along – and it's good news for fans. Referring to the series as an "oil tanker," Flanagan shared that "It's moving" and that "We've got a lot of scripts done for it. It's the first priority." Regarding the previous attempt to bring King's epic to live-action life, the 2017 feature film directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, Flanagan made it clear that he isn't looking for that to the beginning and end of the adaptation story. "We can't let that be the final word. We really can't," he added.

Toward the end of January 2025, King had some very positive things to say about the adaptation during an episode of The Kingcast, with podcast host Eric Vespe. "I've seen screenplays and pitches. He starts where he should start. The beats are perfect. They're just perfect," King shared, offering just enough to give fans something to smile about. During an IGN Fan Fest 2025 roundtable interview for the upcoming film adaptation of the author's The Monkey, King was asked if he would be interested in joining the writing team for Flanagan's adaptation (as he did with Paramount+'s adaptation of The Stand).

"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," King shared, offering some jaw-dropping news that we're sure will have King fans speculating over between now and when specific details start to drop.

The Dark Tower: Mike Flanagan Update, Talks Stephen King

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter as part of a profile/interview back in September 2024, Flanagan offered another update – but not before sharing what it is about King's works that keep him coming back. "I couldn't watch horror movies as a kid. They scared me too much. To try to hang out with my peers, I thought I could read scary books to get braver. Stephen King was one of the first authors that I encountered, and I learned the hard way that it's much scarier on the page. And, yes, the clowns and monsters are terrifying. But it only works because of his incredible humanistic care for the characters. He's always been my hero as a writer," he explained.

That explains one of the reasons why Flanagan is taking his time with his "The Dark Tower" adaptation – and looking to both television and film to tell the tale properly. "That thing's launching an oil tanker. But we're working on," Flanagan shared about bringing King's works to live-action life. "It was stalled first by me moving from Netflix to Amazon and stalled again by the strikes. It's progressing, and we're further along than we've ever been on it. I do see feature components to some of the other stories, but the main storyline is ongoing series."

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