The Dark Tower Debacle

The Dark Tower. Stephen King's epic fantasy/western series. Meshed somewhere between The Lord of the Rings, and Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly it tells the tale of Roland Deschain; the last Gunslinger of Gilead and his epic quest toward the Dark Tower. Based on a series of seven books, a potential film/television series has been planned for a number of years, and has been stuck in development hell for some time. Originally planned as a television series by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the duo ditched the project due to the mammoth task in adapting it. Now Warner Brothers have passed on the project, this time with Oscar winning director Ron Howard at the helm. Warner Brothers deemed the project too expensive and ambitious. The plan involves releasing the first film The Gunslinger, with a television series running alongside the behemoth Blockbusters. You have to give it to Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman, they sure have ambitious plans for Roland and his Ka-tet. But why this new hurdle? Wouldn't it be easy to get a beloved fantasy series, by a popular author green lit? Especially in this post LOTR and Harry Potter cinematic climate?

Well the simple answer – no. The truth is The Dark Tower isn't a well known fantasy series, unlike Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. Unlike those two popular books, TDT has a niche audience. Those two popular fantasy series, both book and films appeal to adults and children, yet there is nothing family friendly about The Dark Tower. With the level of brutal violence scattered throughout the series, the films rating would have to be 15 or an 18, its proven that films of that calibre usually flop. Studio's would not finance a franchise that no one has heard of.

To add insult to injury, how do you market a Spaghetti Western, Horror, Fantasy film? If the marketing is muddled or confusing, you could end up with a John Carter size flop.

While it would be great to see Roland and his Ka-tet depicted on the big screen, it makes sense to adapt The Dark Tower for television. If Game of Thrones has proven one thing, its that modern television can match the big budget blockbusters of the Cinema. Set up at HBO, the home of bold television TDT has room to blossom. Given the networks liberal views on depicting violence, the creators wouldn't have to shy away from the books more vicious scenes. Spread over two or three seasons, you could stick to the source materiel while eliminating some of the unpopular aspects of the series, i.e. Stephen King writing himself into the saga. Furthermore multi genre entertainment works better on the small screen; Firefly and True Blood are great examples of strange, niche television with a devout cult following. To help introduce audiences to this strange world, a limited run of comics could help establish Mid-World, and some of the continuity in King's overall work. Creating an awareness of this world, would bring the unknown audience into world of the Dark Tower. Although it may be a long way off I still have hope, that one day we will see a great Dark Tower adaptation, and until then we still the books over.