J.J. Abrams Not Adapting Stephen King’s Dark Tower

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 11, 2009

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There have been some that have said that the pairing of producers J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof (Lost) with the material of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series is a match made in fantasy/sci-fi heaven. Then again, there are those who cringe at the very thought.

No matter where you fall in this spectrum of opinion, all is for nothing today, as Abrams has revealed to MTV that he and Lindelof are leaving Dark Tower behind. “The Dark Tower thing is tricky,” he explained in an interview. “It’s such an important piece of writing. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now.”

This confirms what Abrams said in an early interview, which was published in October by USA Today. “After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up. I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.”

The question for fans of King’s work now becomes: if not Abrams, then who? As the producer/director said himself, it is likely that The Dark Tower will end up being made. And with the pressure of this being King’s self-proclaimed magnum opus, it would be quite a task indeed. I’ve seen some who say that The Dark Tower would work best as a television miniseries, whereas others would like to see it get the full-on budget of a major motion picture. I direct my attention and curiosity to all of you — especially those who are rabid fans of King — what do you think should happen with The Dark Tower? Who should adapt, and for what format?

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avaela

I think a tv series would be best (preferably HBO or Showtime) and I would love to see Joss Whedon or Alan Ball adapt it.

edwardzarnawski

I'd pesonally like to see Stephen King adapt the novels into a screenplay. Maybe a three or four movie arch, like the Harry Potter films. Frank Darabont is my first choice to direct, but I heard that King passed on kim for the project (I have no idea why). There are a lot of capable directors out there to bring his vision to life, but it all starts with a good treatment of the original material.

Brian

I may be alone here, but I'm not sure how well Dark Tower can be adapted to the screen. I think all the magic, mysticism, universe travel, and mythology would get jumbled into an incoherent mess. Or worse, be stripped down to something completely different.

Can't we just let Roland live in our collective minds? Why do we have to hollywood-ize everything??

Peter Donohue

I have to agree with you here. Plus by the later books it gets so meta and deus ex machina that it would be laughable on the big screen.

JRM

I'm disappointed Abrams won't be working on the project, but am still hopeful it will be made into a major motion picture series. I wouldn't mind a television series, but I prefer the big-screen treatment. My vote is for Peter Jackson to direct, if not, Frank Darabont.

kikstad

Too bad. Abrams would have done a fine job. How about Quillermo del Toro or Peter Jackson? A fanboy can dream, can't he?

bushmaster

If they adapted The Dark Tower for film it would take forever. Plus, whoever played Jake would grow out of the role requiring different actors. The only way they could transfer the series is through HBO. It would be epic.

Nate

When I first read the Dark Tower series, I immediately thought there was no way to get this in as a movie unless you did 4 or 5 movies, and how could we get this done? No one would stick with a story that long! Then Harry Potter emptied the wallets of American parents for the better part of a decade.

This could be legitimately done as a film, and I think it probably should be, but HBO has proven with John Adams that they could produce a miniseries that looked like a Hollywood-caliber motion picture. This would be exponentially more difficult, requiring more extensive CGI and action work, but HBO might just be able to pull it off.

SUMO

Let's put it this way. Most of King's best stories never get it's due. Great stories translate into crap movies. His style really dosn't have a media due to his 3rd person writing. Which is always a scramble as to who can bring this one to life. WHO? WHO? His stories needs a solid budget. His fan base is huge and usually walk away disappointed from the theatre. An undertaking like The Dark Tower probably has some serious directors shaking in their shoes just at the mere prospect and I bet some big names will pass on such a project beacause it is so micro in detail and massive in scale. I think King should throw his hat in the ring and do it himself, If not then (NOT KIDDING) Mel Gibson. He's a looney anyhow but a fine Director and a talented story teller. WORD UP.

Marcio

Damon and JJ are already finishing their particular Dark Tower: it's name is LOST.
And this series is a complete copy of the Dark Tower ciclo... so why back to this again?

J.J. Abrams Not Adapting Stephen King’s Dark Tower

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