With THE DARK TOWER hitting US cinemas today, news has resurfaced on the follow-up television series. THR has reported that The Walking Dead‘s Glen Mazzara will head up operations for the potential TV series.
The series is expected to follow the backstory laid out in Wizard and Glass, the fourth book in Stephen King’s original magnum opus, although it could readily draw on flashback material from The Gunslinger and The Wind Through the Keyhole. This allows the show to recast Idris Elba’s role of Roland Deschain with a younger actor.
“I’ve been a Stephen King fan for decades, and the opportunity to adapt The Dark Tower as a TV series is a great honor,” Mazzara told the source “The events of The Gunslinger, Wizard and Glass, The Wind Through the Keyhole and other tales need a long format to capture the complexity of Roland’s coming of age — how he became the Gunslinger, how Walter became the Man in Black, and how their rivalry cost Roland everything and everyone he ever loved. I could not be more excited to tell this story. It feels like being given the key to a treasure chest. And oh yeah, we’ll have billy-bumblers!”
There is no network or creative talent attached to the series as yet, and early reviews from Nikolaj Arcel’s feature film have been less than kind. It is predicted that the series will distance itself from the film with a new cast and creative talent set. Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard,Gregory Lessans and Brian Grazer are executive producers.
