Amazon Studios has passed on the pilot for ‘The Dark Tower’, a planned series adaptation of Stephen King’s sprawling book series, from executive producer/showrunner Glen Mazzara and MRC. Because of just how massive King’s books are, Amazon played it cautious and ordered a pilot instead of simply ordering ‘The Dark Tower’ straight to series. And reportedly, the studio wasn’t impressed with the finished product, thinking it was not on par with other big-ticket series it has in the pipeline like ‘Lord of the Rings‘ and ‘Wheel of Time‘. Apparently, there are two more completed scripts and MRC plans to use them to shop the project around to a different outlet.
‘The Dark Tower’ was very recently adapted into a theatrical film in 2017, directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, which was a box office flop that repulsed King fans when it attempted to cram the first 224-page novel into an hour and a half movie.
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The TV adaptation would have had no connection to the film. The plan was for the series to be more faithful to the source material, while also adding new elements. For starters, it would have taken place prior to the first novel and showed how lead character Roland Deschain eventually became the legendary Gunslinger and encountered his first love. It would have also depicted his first encounter with the villain Marten Broadcloak, the Man in Black.
‘Nightflyers” Sam Strike portrayed Deschain in the pilot, with ‘BlacKkKlansman’s Jasper Pääkkönen as the Man in Black. Michael Rooker reportedly played the part of Eldred Jonas, a failed gunslinger. The cast also included Jerome Flynn as Steven Deschain, Ana Padrão as Cordelia Delgado, Abraham Popoola as McCreedy, Joana Ribeiro as Susan Delgado, and Ivan Kaye in an undisclosed role.
On a more positive note, a TV adaptation of another epic King work, ‘The Stand’ is set to arrive via CBS All Access later this year.
