Author Stephen King Weighs In On Why THE DARK TOWER Movie Didn't Work

Author Stephen King Weighs In On Why THE DARK TOWER Movie Didn't Work

IT has been a huge hit but The Dark Tower crashed and burned earlier this year both critically and commercially. Now, author Stephen King has weighed in on why he believes the movie simply didn't work...

By JoshWilding - Sep 26, 2017 02:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi
Source: Vulture
Early on, things looked good for The Dark Tower. The movie was featured on the cover of last year's Comic-Con edition of Entertainment Weekly and the premise - that it was a sequel to Stephen King's novels as opposed to a direct adaptation - intrigued fans. However, after numerous delays and reports of issues behind the scenes, The Dark Tower was mauled by critics and flopped at the box office.

IT, on the other hand, has become the highest grossing horror movie of all-time and a sequel is already in the works so where did The Dark Tower go wrong? King himself has now weighed in on just that.


"The major challenge was to do a film based on a series of books that’s really long, about 3,000 pages. The other part of it was the decision to do a PG-13 feature adaptation of books that are extremely violent and deal with violent behavior in a fairly graphic way. That was something that had to be overcome, although I’ve gotta say, I thought [screenwriter] Akiva Goldsman did a terrific job in taking a central part of the book and turning it into what I thought was a pretty good movie. The TV series they’re developing now … we’ll see what happens with that. It would be like a complete reboot, so we’ll just have to see."

It very much sounds like The Dark Tower's big screen franchise is dead and buried so it will be interesting to see if the TV show will remain a prequel or be reformatted to a direct adaptation of the series similar to Game of Thrones. Either way, King makes some very good points here and it's clear that mistakes were made during the process of bringing these beloved novels to a live-action setting. 

What did you think of The Dark Tower? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Pantherpool
Pantherpool - 9/26/2017, 2:39 AM
It felt like a TV movie.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 9/26/2017, 3:23 AM
No, the problem was disregarding the source material. Nothing else. If it’s not broken, don’t try and fix it.

King may be a great writer, but when it comes to his properties being translated into another medium, he only thinks about the money.
RolandD
RolandD - 9/26/2017, 12:40 PM
@Gunslinger - You mean the $19.00 he made for selling the rights?
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 9/26/2017, 2:44 PM
@RolandD - and the surge in sales provided by the movie’s advertising, yes.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 9/26/2017, 2:48 PM
@RolandD - O’m sure you saw comments here of people goong “never read the books but this looks good, I’ll give them a try”. And that’s just cbm users. You can’t deny the free advertising didn’t boost sales with the general public. Don’t be too literal, there’s more than one way of making money...
RolandD
RolandD - 9/26/2017, 9:01 PM
@Gunslinger - You need to change your user name.You have forgotten the face of your father.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 9/27/2017, 5:38 AM
@RolandD - lol, very good one! I literally laughed out loud, seriously, that was good
RolandD
RolandD - 9/27/2017, 8:38 AM
@Gunslinger - I try. lol BTW, you did make a good point.
scapegoatjones
scapegoatjones - 9/26/2017, 3:44 AM
stop shitting out references to the DT. Do it right like the LOTR or gtfo. If you want to adapt a shorter similar story to the DT patterned after the success of ITs release and now upcoming release do The Talisman and Black House.
IronGenesis
IronGenesis - 9/26/2017, 4:11 AM
I did not see this. I only read "The Gunslinger". From reading that and all the artwork in the books the film looked way different than I ever imagined. Too slick, modern
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 9/26/2017, 4:12 AM
I never read the book but the movie was ok. Nothing I care to see twice but it wasn't bad. Just wasn't really the good either, the movie felt like it was missing an emotional connection from the kid. Idris Gun Slinger was great but his role felt too small. Overall it felt like a kiddie horror movie loosely based on Last Action Hero.
ImperiousRex
ImperiousRex - 9/26/2017, 7:16 AM
@slickrickdesigns - Ditto on all points. This is the best summation of the film I've read yet.
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 9/26/2017, 4:31 AM
A: I thought it would at least be a few years before he spoke out against it.
B: If he knew all this then the [frick] let them make it? I love Kings works and have read everything but the guy really is a sell out sometimes, it's hardly as if he needed it. He's basically just said 'yep, it was impossible and I also didn't fight for an 18 rating.' He was happy for fans to be disappointed, his work to be filtered down to popcorn garbage and take the payout.
Jlocklin
Jlocklin - 9/26/2017, 5:13 AM
The problem was Akiva Goldman. He has written mostly trash but one lucky Oscar makes everyone forget.
TheRealTomServo
TheRealTomServo - 9/26/2017, 5:33 AM
@Jlocklin - Finally, someone said it.
Invasion96
Invasion96 - 9/26/2017, 5:13 AM
Shit was trash and Elba should’ve lead instead of the kid
CurlyBill
CurlyBill - 9/26/2017, 5:47 AM
This reminds me of when they were going to turn ASOIAF into a mo vie trilogy. The only way to do the dark tower justice is to make it a tv show.
TheNameIsBetty
TheNameIsBetty - 9/26/2017, 5:49 AM
If it was just a random sci-fi flick, it would have been kinda cool, not bad on its own merits. Unfortunately, it was a terrible adaptation of the books. Elba deserves better. Next time just follow the books, please.
narrow290
narrow290 - 9/26/2017, 6:27 AM
it had its issues but i liked it. I hope the show is on HBO or Starz and starts with young Roland. it really could be the next Thrones....
rabid
rabid - 9/26/2017, 7:06 AM
Dark Tower was possibly the worst adaptation of a book I've ever seen. I just don't understand why they didn't start at the beginning. It was baffling how a movie could go so wrong. The books weren't great to begin with, but at least they had a coherent linear plot.
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 9/26/2017, 7:25 AM
@rabid - Really the worst... Have you seen Dreamcatcher?...
rabid
rabid - 9/26/2017, 7:34 AM
@Ha1frican - Yes. Not a perfect adaptation, but a great movie that actually made sense.
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 9/26/2017, 7:39 AM
@rabid - uhhh no. Not on any level is it either of those things lol. The only interesting thing about that movie is Morgan Freeman's Eyebrows
rabid
rabid - 9/26/2017, 7:46 AM
@Ha1frican - I actually thought the film was better than the book in that case. Even King himself has said the same.
IwasGroot
IwasGroot - 9/26/2017, 7:50 AM
What sucks is that Idris Elba is awesome, but makes terrible choices. Everyone wants him to be a household name (and rightfully so), but it seems that he just doesn't want to be a viable leading man based on his role choices. He seems to be sabotaging his own bankability. I haven't seen Dark Tower, but it sounds like I dodged a bullet.
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 9/26/2017, 8:07 AM
Should be a long form HBO style show, might compete with Westworld (which is almost certainly better in every way) but if hey are gonna do it thats the way.
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