I could not be more excited to tell this story. The events of The Gunslinger, Wizard & Glass, The Wind Through the Keyhole, and other tales need a long format to capture the complexity of Roland's coming of age - how he became the Gunslinger, how Walter became the Man in Black, and how their rivalry cost Roland everything and everyone he ever loved.
THE DARK TOWER TV PILOT SERIES
"I’ve been a Stephen King fan for decades and the opportunity to adapt The Dark Tower as a TV series is a great honor. Sharing his excitement for adapting Stephen King's source material, here's what Mazzara told THR: The series, though, would focus more on the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, Wizard and Glass, which follows the story of a young Roland as he begins his journey as a Gunslinger.Įxecutive producing the series are Akiva Goldsman, Gregory Lessans, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Jeff Pinkner, with The Dark Tower director Nikolaj Arcel and co-writer Anders Thomas Jensen working on the script. The series is currently in the development stages, as it still needs to find a network to call home, but it's expected to comprise 10–13 episodes and filming could begin as early as 2018 if things move forward ( The Dark Tower's box office performance could be a factor in whether or not the series comes to fruition).Īn "origin story" of sorts, The Dark Tower TV series is expected to include Idris Elba as Roland The Gunslinger, Dennis Haysberg as Roland's father, and Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers. Hopefully, the showrunners will stay loyal to the source material and try to do King’s dedicated fans justice.With The Dark Tower opening in theaters this weekend, moviegoers will be transported to Mid-World on the big screen, but the seminal Stephen King book series is making some progress on the small screen as well, with a showrunner now set.Īccording to THR, Glen Mazzara ( The Walking Dead, Damien) is set to serve as showrunner for The Dark Tower TV series from Media Rights Capital and Sony Pictures Television. Strike is a relatively young actor, but this is the type of role that an actor can make a true breakthrough with.Īmazon has had a lot of success with their respective series, but adapting a fantasy epic like Dark Tower is a completely new beast. Pääkkönen made a strong impression with his supporting turn as a vengeful racist in Blackkklansman, proving he has the chops and wicked sensibility to pull off the Man in Black. Some fans may be disappointed by the lack of star power present with the new casting choices, but I support both choices.
THE DARK TOWER Casts A New Gunslinger And Man In Black For The Amazon TV Series The star will star in a pilot together before Amazon confirms a series order. Sam Strike will play the role of Roland Deschain, other known as The Gunslinger, while Blackkklansman co-star Jasper Pääkkönen will be the infamous Man in Black.
THE DARK TOWER TV PILOT UPDATE
The series is still in the early stages of development, but Variety thankfully delivered another update this week with the central cast reveal. Luckily for fans of King’s beloved fantasy series, Amazon recently announced that they would attempt an adaptation, this time through a television series.
Lost amidst this successful run was The Dark Tower, which despite the presence of stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, failed to garner much attention from critics and audiences. With the success of It and strong early reviews of Pet Semetary, it seems that Stephen King adaptations are all the rage today.