Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof has told AMC that he envisages the epic Stephen King fantasy novels The Dark Tower as a Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings esque franchise and the only way they should be adapted on screen is into an epic film series, one film per book.
As there are seven books in the series, that would result in seven movies… an unprecedented amount but as we’ve said when it works, they can earn up to a $1 billion each.
Lindelof says…
“The Dark Tower is to me every bit as daunting an adaptation as the Lord of the Rings trilogy must have been for Peter Jackson, except we’ve got seven books we’re looking at. And the idea of doing that at the same time Carlton and I are bringing Lost to a close is simply not viable. There are always Dark Tower conversations, but the figuring out of what this will look like as a movie has not begun. If The Dark Tower were in the right hands, I would love to see seven movies executed just right. But you have to get people to see the first one to get them to come and see the second one.”
This echoes similar statements that King himself made back in February 2007 when the author said…
“It oughta be movies. It’s gotta be big. I’d like to see it done (that way)”.
As The Dark Tower is one of my favourite series of books, 18 months ago I got cautiously excited (because I don’t want to see it as a knock-off t.v. series) when J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof optioned the rights to the series for $19 but so far their commitments on Star Trek and especially Lost has meant they have had to leave it on the shelf.
And Lindelof warns us not to expect that to change anytime soon as they are busier than ever with Lost right now, trying to figure out the last few seasons that will end the show.
The reason it’s so hard for a big 7 film epic is of course trying to find a studio who would back such a financially risky project and then you have to factor in the age of the lead actors as it could take over a decade for the whole franchise to be completed.
It’s not like Harry Potter where the character grows from a teenager to an adult. The Dark Tower’s protag is an adult from the beginning.
via – /film
Want to write about the stuff you're passionate about and have your work read by an audience of over 10 million a month? Click here to become a contributor.
5 Comments
The changing age of the actor playing Roland wouldn’t be an issue really. Jake on the other hand…
Anyway, I’m not sure a movie-per-book would really work. The Gunslinger’s a much shorter book than the rest, and Wolves Of The Calla has long sections where nothing would really happen on screen. It’s great reading but I’m not sure it would be great cinema.
What the series really needs if for someone to go in and write a large treatment that gets to the heart of the series, then work out the number of films from that. I’d say 4 or 5 films is most likely, but even then it might be a tough sell to studios as Stephen King adaptations are hardly guaranteed box office for larger budgeted movies…
Are they gonna keep the 7th book’s ending? It seems a long way to go for it to end as it did.
I don’t think 7 movies would work. If I was in charge, in the first movie I would put all of book 1, and book 2, up until right after he pulls eddie through, and maybe give a quick, crazy glimpse of Odetta. The second half of Book 2, and Book 3 would be a movie, and 5 would probably have to be it’s own movie, with the book 5 movie including a good portion of book 6. The last part of book 6, and rest of book 7 would be the last movie. The entire young roland story would be sweet as a recurring flashback throughout the 4 movies.
either way, John Goodman needs to play Cort.
I think it should be 7 movies, but it all depends on the first one being a success. The DT series is not as popular as Harry Potter, so anyone new to the series has to be taken in by the Gunslinger. Time scale can be trimmed by filming book 4, Wizard & Glass, at the same time as the other stories. Its one long flash back which would not require the same actors/actressess. Maybe they can film the whole story continuosly, similar to the LotR and the Marix sequels. Whatever happens, it will be one of the biggest cinematic projects of all time.
Damn. I was 2 feet away from Damon Lindelof on Friday, and I had The Gunslinger in my rucksack. Should have got it signed!