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The Dark Tower: Mike Flanagan Offers Quick Update, Talks Stephen King

Mike Flanagan offered a quick update on his The Dark Tower adaptation and shared why Stephen King has "always been my hero as a writer."

Published Thu, 05 Sep 2024 19:07:10 -0500

by Ray Flook

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When we last checked in on how things were going with Mike Flanagan, Trevor Macy, and Intrepid Pictures' upcoming adaptation of bestselling author Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" novels for television (along with two stand-alone films set within the universe), it was earlier this summer. That was when Flanagan made it clear during an episode of the Talking Scared podcast that his taking on The Exorcist didn't mean that "The Dark Tower" was being put on the back burner. "Oh, it's not in the way. They coexist very well. I think the trick with 'The Dark Tower' is it still just takes an enormous amount of time to get going. But we're further along than the last time we spoke. It seems to be moving on its own momentum. There's so much logistical, boring, legal stuff that we have to kind of machete our way through to get that thing moving," Flanagan shared. "But yeah, it has not at all stalled, and none of the other work that's kind of emerged has in any way taken away from it."

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter as part of a profile/interview, 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."

Mike Flanagan on Stephen King's The Dark Tower

"Predating our deal with Amazon, we acquired the rights to 'The Dark Tower,' which, if you know anything about me, you know has been my Holy Grail of a project for most of my life," Flanagan revealed during his and Trevor Macy's discussion of future projects with Deadline Hollywood in December 2022, offering some insights into his vision for the adaptation. "We actually have those rights carved out of our Amazon deal, which doesn't mean that they can't or won't get behind it at some point — you don't know. But that's something we've been developing ourselves and are really passionate about finally getting it up on its feet at some point." Here are some of the highlights, including how far along the project is in the development stage, that the project is aside from their deal with Amazon, and if they've spoken with King about their efforts.

Flanagan on Where Things Stood with "The Dark Tower": "I wrote a pilot; we view it 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."

Stephen King Is "Very, Very Supportive and Very Excited": "This [The Dark Tower] happened because I sent him a very, very detailed outline of what I wanted to do with it. And it was in response to that, that he gave us the rights. A project like this, I wouldn't want to be involved in it at all if we were taking it in a direction that was going to be blasphemous to the Stephen King material, but he's been very, very supportive and very excited about what we'd like to do with it."

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