Summary
- Frequent Flanagan collaborator Carla Gugino reveals that she doesn't have any new updates on Mike Flanagan's Dark Tower project, but expresses possible reunion with the director.
- Flanagan and Trevor Macy acquired the rights to Stephen King's Dark Tower before their deal with Amazon, and are passionate about developing the project outside of their Amazon contract.
- Flanagan plans for The Dark Tower to be a series spanning five seasons and two standalone films, with a pilot script and detailed outlines for the first season and subsequent seasons already worked out.
Mike Flanagan's take on Stephen King's Dark Tower has not had many updates in recent months. In a recent interview, frequent Flanagan collaborator Carla Gugion revealed that she doesn't have any new updates on the mammoth undertaking, but expressed her possible reunion with the director once again as part of it.
Gugino has collaborated several times with Flanagan, including on the recent Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher and another Stephen King adaptation, Gerald's Game. Sharing some small insights into Flanagan's Dark Tower project, she told The Playlist's Bingeworthy podcast:
"There has been a conversation about The Dark Tower, but I don't have any intel I could share other than that. I do hope that it all comes together. And I know that's something he's incredibly passionate about. I mean, I do think he is great, just as a Stephen King interpreter. And yet, he also has such a strong voice of his own that somehow is beautiful, you know?"
"Gerald's Game is so true to the book, even to the point where the end, which I think is actually imperative, was a part of it that people really responded to or didn't. And Mike was so clear about, 'Well, that's that's what it is, though.' And yet, I thought he did it so seamlessly."
Fans of Stephen King’s Dark Tower novels were given a huge boost in 2022 when Flanagan revealed that he acquired the rights to King’s Dark Tower before his new deal with Amazon. During a wide-ranging interview with Deadline, Flanagan revealed that he and Trevor Macy are working on the adaptation outside their Amazon contract, but he did not rule out the Rings of Power streamer from getting involved at some point in the future. When asked about any projects based on well-known IPs they may be working on, Flanagan said:
“You’re the first person we’re saying it to, but yes. Predating our deal with Amazon, we acquired the rights to The Dark Tower, which if you know anything about me, you know it has been my Holy Grail of a project for most of my life. 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.”
Of course, The Dark Tower has been here before. Having been planned and abandoned as a TV series/theatrical release crossover before the MCU proved that audiences are willing to straddle both mediums for the right project, The Dark Tower eventually hit the big screen as a movie that didn’t want to be any of King’s novels and didn’t put enough of its own into the story to make anyone care. Flanagan would certainly not want to do it unless he was doing it faithfully and fully.
How Could The Dark Tower Work On Screen?
Mike Flanagan has seen The Dark Tower as his ultimate project for some time, but the main worry is that if he sticks too closely to King’s story – which involves a western style opening chapter, time-travel, doors to other worlds, characters pulled straight from Frank L. Baum’s Oz stories, and even a fictional version of Stephen King himself – it may never make it to the end of its very long journey. However, Flanagan has a plan regardless.
“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. Well, to be honest, the way that I have seen it breaking out is five seasons of television, followed by two stand-alone features. But I think our priority has been trying to get the television side of it going first. We’re not going to put the cart too far ahead of the horse on such a challenging project, but that I think is the perfect way to do it.”
While the director confirmed that Amazon heads are aware of The Dark Tower project, there is nothing on the table for them right now. However, as Flanagan and Macy take on their new relationship with the streaming giant, and with the company already behind some huge fantasy shows, it could only be a matter of time before The Dark Tower rises again.