Put the Lost guys in charge; they are the only ones who could even come CLOSE to capturing Stephen King’s underrated seven-book epic The Dark Tower – about Roland, The Gunslinger, and his quest to reach the Dark Tower and destroy the Man in Black.
Cinematical reports Lost creators J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have finally secured the rights to the The Dark Tower series of novels, after years of King saying no to others, and are planning a big-screen adaptation along the lines of The Lord of the Rings. Even Frank Darabont, King’s other favorite movie guy, couldn’t get King to sign over the rights to him. It simply HAS to be these three. They and King have formed a longstanding mutual appreciation society; they love King and he loves them right back. In fact, many believe Lost takes liberally from The Dark Tower‘s methodologies. It does.
Seriously, I have to take a moment here to realize the enormity of this. I have been a Stephen King fan since I was 14 and read Salem’s Lot. I quickly started devouring every one of his books he had written up to that point and haven’t looked back. He had such an innate ability to draw me in immediately, make me care about the characters (or hate them) and then let the rock and roll begin in any number of horrific ways. I’ve never really loved horror movies, but King’s novels meant something else to me. I was on a bus trip while reading Salem’s Lot and imagined vampires floating outside, tapping on the window, wanting to be let in. I remember literally dreading to turn the next page in The Shining for fear of what was going to happen. I thought about what color my aura was after reading Insomnia, or what my alternate person would be like after The Talisman. And when The Stand extended edition came out in the mid-’90s, I got tears in my eyes when I opened the book, I was that excited. Yeah, it’s sort of weird.
Of course, I have an equal obsession with Lost, which I’ve already hinted about here in my blog, so the when I heard about the connection between the show’s creators and my favorite author, well, I knew I was in the right company. I’d give anything to sit in a room with those guys and just talk.
Turning King’s musings into films has always been hit or miss. Darabont has certainly been the best at regularly tapping into that certain King sensibility (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist), but honestly, only Lindelof, Cuse and Abrams can take on The Dark Tower properly – and if they can make it as grand as The Lord of the Rings, then a Stephen King adaptation may finally win an Oscar.
