There are plenty of Stephen King adaptations in the works in Hollywood right now, but at least one of them has wound up on the scrap heap. It’s been revealed that Amazon has opted not to move forward withThe Dark TowerTV show. The project has been in the works for years and oddly gained a lot of momentum after the movie failed to deliver on its promise. However, things have stalled out, leaving the future of the property on uncertain ground.
According to several reports,The Dark Towerhas been passed on byAmazon Prime. Showrunner Glen Mazzara and production company MRC are taking the two scripts that were the basis for the show’s potential pilot and shopping them around. It’s not clear if any other networks or streaming services have expressed any interest at this time. For now at least, the project is dead in the water. Mazzara, in a series of tweets, said the following after the news broke.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work our cast and crew did on The Dark Tower pilot. They are an immensely creative group of people who gave it their all and took big risks. I know they delivered big time. Tbh, I wouldn’t change a thing. We worked hard to honor this amazing story and bring it to life. I believe it’s the version fans have been waiting for.
AskStephen Kingand Robin Furth. But like Roland, I gotta keep searching. The quest continues. There are other worlds than these… It’s a tough business but I’m incredibly lucky to have worked on The Dark Tower for the past three years. I started in March 2017. I believe Stephen King wrote it over 37 years. See you in 2054.”
Few details had been revealed about the show. Sam Strike (Nightflyers) was on board to playRoland Deschain, aka The Gunslinger, while Jasper Paakkonen (Vikings) would have played the villainous The Man in Black. FormerThe Walking Deadstar Michael Rooker was also said to star in an undisclosed role. Beyond that, we heard early on that the show would have specifically adapted Stephen King’s bookWizard and Glass.
The streaming wars are heating up as everyone looks to compete with Netflix. Amazon, like anyone else, is on the hunt for possible prestige programming. The studio is currently working on a big-budgetLord of the Ringsseries as well, which has garnered a multi-season commitment. For years,The Dark Towerhas been viewed as avery challenging projectto adapt for the screen. This further proves that to be the case.
The Dark Towermovie, released in 2017, was panned by critics and grossed just $113 million at the global box office. Initially, the studio had ambitious plans to make a tie-in TV show that would work in tandem with possible sequels. That didn’t exactly pan out. With any luck, this adaptation will find a new home in the future. This news comes to us viaDeadline.
