Mike Flanagan Says His Dark Tower Adaptation Is Being Held Back By Previous Failures

gamerant.com:

Director Mike Flanagan recently spoke about his potential series adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, including his belief that the 2017 film version may have poisoned his chances for a series.

Flanagan has made a name at Netflix making well-received horror series like The Haunting of Hill House,Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club. He recently began working under Amazon Studios on new projects for television, hoping to create a longer-form adaptation of King's multi-volume work, The Dark Tower, which started with the first volume, The Gunslinger, in 1982. The 2017 film version, which served more as an additional sequel than a true adaptation, starred big names Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey and seemed poised for success among King's fans. The film’s failure, however, may have cooled Hollywood’s fervor for King-based stories.

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Flanagan recently told the Script Apart podcast he believed the film’s failure may have torpedoed his chances of getting to make a Dark Tower streaming series. "[My Dark Tower adaptation] couldn't be more different [from the movie]," he explained. «That was the wrong approach to the material, kind've across the board, and it was such the wrong approach that I think it kind've salted the earth for anyone else who wanted to plant something under the Dark Tower banner for who knows how long.» Flanagan acquired the rights to adapt King's The Dark Tower last year, but momentum on getting the series into production at Amazon has slowed. "...they were able to overcome it for an Amazon [Studios] series that took another, different approach again — that is very different than the one I am proposing — and that didn't get off the ground,"