Mike Flanagan is a modern horror master who's adept at telling stories on both the big and small screen. From "The Haunting of Hill House" on Netflix to his underseen micro-budget thriller "Hush," the man has proven time and time again he's got the goods. More specifically, Flanagan has shown that he knows what it takes to make a great Stephen King adaptation, with the filmmaker putting his stamp on "The Life of Chuck" later this year. For King fans, (hopefully) the best is yet to come as Flanagan is working on bringing the author's "The Dark Tower" saga to life as a TV series.
While much remains up in the air, King has given the project his blessing. More than that, he's gone so far as to classify Flanagan's take on "The Dark Tower" as "perfect." On a recent episode of "The Kingcast," host Eric Vespe brought up the forthcoming TV show and, while the famed author didn't have too much to say, what he did offer was extremely encouraging. Per King:
"I've seen screenplays and pitches. He starts where he should start. The beats are perfect. They're just perfect."
"He's the King Whisperer," King joked about Flanagan's growing reputation in terms of being able to successfully adapt the author's most challenging works for the screen, with 2017's "Gerald's Game" perhaps being the greatest example. ("Doctor Sleep" is certainly another.) Given that "The Dark Tower" consists of eight books published over several decades, it would certainly be fair to say that adapting this sprawling epic qualifies as a challenge. This is to say nothing of the sky-high expectations that fans have for the show. No pressure.
Somewhat ironically, 2017 is the same year that the "Dark Tower" movie hit theaters and bombed at the box office, serving as both a critical and commercial disaster. That film, which was directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starred Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, aka The Gunslinger, with Matthew McConaughey appearing as Walter Padick, aka Randall Flagg, aka The Man in Black.