David Pierdomenico
It’s no secret that Stephen King has one of the largest and most impressive bibliographies of any author, living or dead. And while he has many classics from that list, most would argue that The Dark Tower series is his magnum opus. Spanning nine novels and 30 years, it is nothing short of a masterpiece in epic horror/fantasy that contains everything readers love about King. So why then was the film adaptation so underwhelming?
Spinoff Rather Than Adaptation
As a creative choice, filmmakers decided to treat The Dark Tower film as a sort of sequel to the book series rather than a straight adaptation. Instead of telling the story of the beloved novels, they thought they could take the basic idea of it, and in doing so appeal to audiences that had never read the books. However, doing so only hurt its reception. Fans of the books were disappointed that they didn’t get the adaptation they wanted, and those that hadn’t felt lost in all the mythos that the film seemed to be rushing. When trying to placate too many people, it often leads to no one being pleased.
In addition, it chose to focus too much on Jake Chambers, thus leaving the Gunslinger underused and underdeveloped. Here was one of the most cherished characters in all of King’s works, and audiences barely got to see him. It’s especially a shame considering how much anticipation there was when it was announced that Idris Elba would be playing the role. His work in the MCU, Luther, Pacific Rim, and 28 Weeks Later preceded him. Casting him as Roland should have been a huge success, had the film been done better. Concurrently, Matthew McConaughey’s Walter (aka The Man in Black) seemed cartoonish rather than the embodiment of evil, as the character often is throughout King’s multiverse.
Wrong Genre
The Dark Tower series was always somewhat unique, in reference to the usual dark and horror tones ever present in King’s novels. But that said, they all share a similar grim, yet deeply emotional approach to them. This is most likely what fans were looking for, but instead the film seemed to think it was a Young Adult adaptation, like that of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. It followed all the same clichés of starting with a kid who has special knowledge/abilities, who is then pursued by an evil supernatural organization no one knew existed, and then meets up with a hero to discover their destiny. Sound familiar?
Hulu’s new series Castle Rock, on the other hand, seems to capture King’s tone perfectly. Similarly to The Dark Tower, it’s not specifically based on any one of King’s stories. Rather it’s a new story based around his world. It’s bleak, mysterious, captivating, and poignant; all things fans want to see from a King story. Its success only serves as a reminder to Columbia of what fans wanted out of The Dark Tower. One could watch Castle Rock, and immediately recognize King’s signature style. However when the same is applied to Dark Tower, if the viewer doesn’t know what it’s based on, they might mistake it for a ripoff/sequel to The Giver.
The Future of Dark Tower
While the film did make nearly twice its budget at the box office, the critical and fan reception was so underwhelming that any and all sequels have been shelved by the studio. Rumors persist that they’re planning on doing a prequel to the book series in the form of a TV series. Which is more in line with how that story should be told. But is it too much to ask for a direct adaptation of the books?
The best way to do so would be an HBO or some other premium channel series with each season covering a book, much like Game of Thrones. And it certainly wouldn’t suffer from a lack of source material like that show does, now that it’s surpassed the novels. King writes a whole lot faster than Martin, and still currently publishes at least a book or two each year. CBS tried to do something similar with Under the Dome, but clearly this is the more interesting novel series to go with. Either way, hopefully fans of The Dark Tower books won’t have to wait too long for a faithful and entertaining film or TV representation of the brilliant story they love so much.
