Mike Flanagan Offers Adapt Update

Posted in: Amazon Studios, Movies, TV | Tagged: Mike Flanagan, stephen king, The Dark Tower

Though it’s still “very much on the table,” Mike Flanagan explained why his adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” is taking so long.

To say that filmmaker Mike Flanagan is no stranger to bestselling author Stephen King‘s literary universe would be an understatement, to say the least. Look no further than his upcoming series take on King’s classic 1974 novel Carrie, with buzz growing over Flanagan’s unique vision and willingness to take some amazing creative swings. But when it comes to King, Flanagan’s biggest challenge still lies ahead: his, Trevor Macy, and Intrepid Pictures’ television series and film adaptation of “The Dark Tower” universe. Not only is King’s fantasy-adventure-horror series epic in and of itself, but it also serves as the connective core to all of King’s works. Yeah, it’s big. The good news? Flanagan says the adaptation is still “very much on the table,” but there have been some speed bumps along the way.

“To do it the way I wanna do it requires an enormous commitment from a studio,” Flanagan shared with EW during an interview in support of Carrie. While Flanagan’s move to Amazon after a successful creative run at Netflix didn’t make matters any easier, an “enormous commitment” that Flanagan references has to do with locking down rights to certain King characters. “The way the Dark Tower universe is connected, you’ve got characters in there that are all over the place when it comes to studio ownership. So the development process on it has been epic. It, of course, has taken much longer than I’d like it to, but I work on it all the time. It’s never stopped moving. It just moves at its own oil-tanker pace,” he added.

The Dark Tower: Previous Updates From Mike Flanagan, Stephen King

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter as part of a profile/interview back in September 2024, Flanagan offered another update – but not before sharing what it is about King’s works that keep him coming back. “I couldn’t watch horror movies as a kid. They scared me too much. To try to hang out with my peers, I thought I could read scary books to get braver. Stephen King was one of the first authors that I encountered, and I learned the hard way that it’s much scarier on the page. And, yes, the clowns and monsters are terrifying. But it only works because of his incredible humanistic care for the characters. He’s always been my hero as a writer,” he explained.

That explains one of the reasons why Flanagan is taking his time with his “The Dark Tower” adaptation – and looking to both television and film to tell the tale properly. “That thing’s launching an oil tanker. But we’re working on,” Flanagan shared about bringing King’s works to live-action life. “It was stalled first by me moving from Netflix to Amazon and stalled again by the strikes. It’s progressing, and we’re further along than we’ve ever been on it. I do see feature components to some of the other stories, but the main storyline is ongoing series.”

Toward the end of January 2025, King had some very positive things to say about the adaptation during an episode of The Kingcast, with podcast host Eric Vespe. “I’ve seen screenplays and pitches. He starts where he should start. The beats are perfect. They’re just perfect,” King shared, offering just enough to give fans something to smile about. During an IGN Fan Fest 2025 roundtable interview for the film adaptation of the author’s The Monkey, King was asked if he would be interested in joining the writing team for Flanagan’s adaptation (as he did with Paramount+’s adaptation of The Stand).

“All I can say is it’s happening. I am writing stuff now, and I think that’s all I want to say because the next thing you know, I’ll stir up a bunch of stuff I don’t necessarily want to stir up yet. I’m in process right now, and to say too much feels like a jinx,” King shared, offering some jaw-dropping news that we’re sure will have King fans speculating over between now and when specific details start to drop.

During a conversation with Empire from January of this year, Flanagan referred to the series as an “oil tanker,” adding that “It’s moving” and that “We’ve got a lot of scripts done for it. It’s the first priority.” Regarding the previous attempt to bring King’s epic to live-action life, the 2017 feature film directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, Flanagan made it clear that he isn’t looking for that to be the beginning and end of the adaptation story. “We can’t let that be the final word. We really can’t,” he added.

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