Earlier today, I was tagged in a Facebook post by a friend who knows I’m such a huge fan of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. Her post linked to The Hollywood Reporter’s story, announcing the latest in an endless line of studio homes for the screen adaptation of King’s magnum opus. Sony Pictures and MRC have called dibs this time around, choosing to adapt The Gunslinger, the first book of the series. They’re going with a revamped script from Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner.
King’s series has taken him more than 30 years to finish. I use the word finish lightly, because he’s published an eighth novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, which falls between books 4 and 5 since the final draft of Dark Tower 7. Looking at the film’s history, it’s starting to make this constant reader wonder if we’ll get our movies and/or television series within the next 30.
So far, we’ve seen Universal Pictures, HBO, Warner Brothers, Sony, and MRC flirting with bringing Mid-World to big and small screens near you. At various times, J. J. Abrams, Ron Howard, Javier Bardem, and Russell Crowe have all been attached to the series as well. Due to budgetary restraints on an undertaking of this scale, the future of this franchise has been up in the air. Of course, I wouldn’t count anything out at this point. After all, Ka is a wheel.
Fellow GeekDad, Jamie Greene, said it best, though: “I’ll believe it when I have a ticket for it.” I know what you mean. Before I go, let me leave you with possibly a consoling thought; somewhere out there, in another world than this, is a you who is sitting in a theater, throwing back popcorn, and enjoying the final installment of The Dark Tower franchise.
Bird and bear and hare and fish… to see this film’s my greatest wish.
Click here to read the Hollywood Reporter article.
Learn more about Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.
I was a huge fan also, until I read books 5, 6 and 7. After the marvelous books 3 and 4, book 5 was a huge disappointment for me, and books 6 and 7 did not really achieve the previous level, either.
Coincidently, I had the same impression with Books 4 and 5 of Song of Ice and Fire. I hope Martin gets on track, though, and delivers something up to par with Storm of Swords.
Yeah, I can see that. I liked book 1, loved book 2, enjoyed book 3, and then loved book 4 of The Dark Tower. Then, like the rest of the world, I had to wait until the final books. I read book 5 right after I read Talisman and Black House, so I was all excited, thinking it would be wolves like in that, but, alas … Book 6 had some very interesting parts about Mid-World and such, but it wasn’t as good to me. Then, came book 7. I loved, loved, loved so much of that book, but the parts I didn’t … I guess what I’m saying is on book 7, there was no gray area. (Can you tell, I’m being vague to try to keep from spoiling, here?)