The Dark Tower's journey to big and small screen fame has been something of an odyssey in itself. Over the years the greenlight has been flashing on and off, with J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard once on board, Russell Crow still on board, Javier Bardem never really on board and, now, Sony slating the film for a 2017 release with Idris Elba in the frame to star as gunslinging hero, Roland Deschain. Phew. While this could change, it is highly probable that King's decades-spanning fantasy series - his opus, to many - will become a film franchise. This is great news for fans, but one element of the whole saga that feels like a missed opportunity is the original intention for movie adaptations to run alongside a HBO series. This is something that Sony doesn't seem to be running with. The best thing about this whole series is it's breadth and scope and what better way to capture ever minute detail of Roland's eight novel-spanning journey across the Old West, hot on the heels of the Man In Black, via a TV show? With no sign of this happening at present, and a film franchise on the horizon, this will still remain the one King story that simply must be beamed into our living rooms.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.