A Few Thoughts on "The Dark Tower" Film/TV Franchise

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Well an interesting piece of news came across my desk the other day, one that left me torn to say the least. As it turns out, after years of lamenting in development hell, Sony Pictures has finally set a date to bring Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower to life as both a miniseries and motion picture series starting on January 13, 2017.

I say that this left me torn, because already I'm nervous. Now before we go any further, this isn't going to be some giant rant about how I expect Hollywood to completely muck it up, there's no need for that. This is a different era for filmmaking, where those behind the camera fully respect the source material. If you don't believe me, look no further than the Marvel revolution in film, where they have consistently made one amazing film after another. Not to mention the advent of CGI, because this is the kind of film that benefits from it since there are parts of Roland Deschain's world that are simply beyond imagination and I think that's why I'm nervous.

This is a story that quite frankly has been around in my life, for my entire life. I read The Gunslinger in 1985 when I was six years old, yes I was reading that kind of stuff at six because I swallowed books whole with my brain as a kid, I still do to this day, but I digress. I was hooked on this world, I needed to know more, I had to know how it ended and I devoured every single edition that came out from beginning to end, including the 2012 release of The Wind Through the Keyhole. It's a series that inspired my imagination, and now...it's coming to life before my eyes.  

I'm nervous because I know what kind of work has to go into adapting something this epic. These are some of the most detailed books I have ever read, and one could truly compare them to The Lord of the Rings when it comes to the scope of this adventure and well...it's King's finest work. It truly combines everything he has ever written in a magical way and that's a lot of territory to cover and lots of details that will have to be left out whether fans like it or not, myself included.  That's the stuff that will no doubt upset me, those little details you fawned over in the novel gone forever to strengthen the core of the story. 

I am looking forward to this, make no doubt about it. It's just that I have to find a way to get my inner child to be happy with an updated and slightly different story than the one that left him giddy with joy so many years ago.  I guess really, I just need to get over it, and be pleased in the fact that this powerhouse story is finally coming to visual life and the books will always be there regardless. All I can ask of the folks behind the camera is to give us the best possible adaptation of the story that they can, and to wow us please and if they can guarantee that...I'll be there come January 2017. 

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