Stephen King Fans Are Very Worried About Mike Flanagan’s Dark Tower Adaptation
Mike Flanagan has proven himself to be a horror master with projects like Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Stephen King fans are also excited to see Flanagan bring the King’s acclaimed Dark Tower series to life with the upcoming TV show, but many have also expressed worry that Flanagan’s other projects, like the new Exorcist film, may lead to Dark Tower delays.
Flanagan has heard the fan concerns and went out of the way to assuage them, appearing on the Talking Scared podcast to say, “it has not at all stalled, and none of the other work that’s kind of emerged has in any way taken away from it.”
The Disappointing Movie
Stephen King fans have been burned by a subpar Dark Tower film before, so it’s understandable that the concerns are there. Flanahan’s TV series was first announced in 2022, so progress hasn’t exactly been expedient, but Flanagan did explain that there’s a lot of “logistical, boring, legal stuff” they have to work through to get the series made. King’s sci-fi fantasy Western epic also seems like quite the monumental task to adapt, so it’s not necessarily surprising that it’s slow going for the series.
Lawyers Are Scarier Than A Stephen King Novel
In other words, Flanagan is basically telling Stephen King fans that the Dark Tower series has some boring legal stuff that isn’t necessarily his purview, giving him plenty of time to work on other projects like the new Exorcist film. Flanagan explained, “It became so clear to me that that kind of oil tanker of a project was just gonna be moving along,” adding, “It’s perfectly feasible for me to be working on other things at the same time.” Flanagan also seems like a bit of a workhorse, as he’s proven before that he can easily juggle multiple projects at once or at least make it look easy.
Flanagan talked about how he was writing the Doctor Sleep script on the set of Haunting of Hill House and said that when they worked on Doctor Sleep, the writer’s room of Bly Manor was active. Flanagan further reassured Stephen King fans that the Exorcist movie definitely wouldn’t be a problem for the Dark Tower production, saying, “It’s this tiny little movie that just kind of dances and runs circles around everything else. So it’s really no problem.”
Their Other Project
In the meantime, Stephen King fans can look forward to Mike Flanagan’s non-Dark Tower King adaptation, Life of Chuck, based on King’s novella of the same name. Life of Chuck is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival later this year. The anticipated adaptation stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles “Chuck” Krantz, along with Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, and Jacob Tremblay.
The Go-To For King Movies
Mike Flanagan is quickly becoming the go-to creative for Stephen King adaptations, with Life of Chuck being his third. Dark Tower will give him four King adaptations under his belt, and that project could end up taking up a lot of his time if the series takes off. There are quite a few Dark Tower novels to adapt, and fans are hoping we get the whole story this time rather than the protracted attempt we got in the last adaptation.
More Adaptations Coming
Stephen King fans are never short on adaptations to look forward to, as there always seems to be a TV show or film based on the prolific author’s massive bibliography in the works. Along with the Dark Tower series and The Life of Chuck, fans can also look forward to the HBO series Welcome to Derry based on the It franchise. While none of these projects have official release dates, we’ll keep you updated on anything we hear about them.
