In the same year that It became the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, 2017’s first movie based on a Stephen King work — Sony’s The Dark Tower — grossed just $111 million worldwide on a $60 million dollar budget. The sci-fi western didn’t fare well on Rotten Tomatoes either, where it settled at a paltry 15% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Nonetheless, star Idris Elba, who played Roland Deschain, the last of the Gunslingers, told RadioTimes he’s game for another go. A TV adaptation of King’s novel is in the works and things are moving along — former The Walking Dead showrunner Glenn Mazzara boarded the project in August — but Elba says he wants to step back into the gunslinger’s boots on the big screen.
“I think any TV series that is an offshoot from the film can have more time to explore some themes,” Elba said. “I’d personally prefer to do another Dark Tower film, exploring some more of the gunslinger — as a film.”
Elba knows little about the planned television adaptation, but says there are musings, at least, about a sequel.
The Dark Tower had been in the works, in various iterations, for a decade: in 2007, future Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was attached to produce and direct. In 2010, the project switched hands to veteran filmmaker Ron Howard, where it lingered in development hell for half a decade before Sony fast-tracked The Dark Tower in 2015 with director Nikolaj Arcel signing on in July.
There was hype around the possibility of a Dark Tower movie for years, but considering the lack of interest around the actual movie over the summer, Sony moving forward with a sequel is about as likely as a Ghostbusters: Answer the Call followup.
The Dark Tower will be available to own on Blu-ray and DVD on October 31. Elba can next be seen reprising his role as Heimdall in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, in theaters November 3. (by Cameron Bonomolo )
