By The Dark Tower movie is out and it’s a bit of a let down, but that isn’t going to stop production companies MCR and Sony from trying to move this thing into a full blown franchise. News has come that Glen Mazzara of Walking Dead fame has been tapped to be the showrunner for the still-in-the-works TV show that will focus on Roland’s coming of age in Gilead. Not much else is known about the series as the only casting made is Idris Elba returning to the role of a much younger Roland.
While I didn’t love the movie I’m still happy that the TV show has a chance. Wizard and Glass, the book that the show will be mostly based off of, is an outlier from the rest of the series as its a flashback to the Arthurian western kingdom of Gilead where Roland was raised. It’s a really cool concept, and I’m dying to see it on the screen. The show is being seen as an origin story and as such can operate pretty independently from the movie so I don’t hate the idea of everyone getting a second crack at the franchise. A TV show is easily the way to go with some this complex anyway.
Of course this could all go away. If the movie doesn’t catch on and Sony gets cold feet then we may not see the show come to light. It doesn’t have a network yet, though since it’s aiming for a short run (10-12 episodes) it’ll probably target cable or Netflix where that format is more accepted.
There’ll be water if god will it, I suppose.
