‘The Dark Tower’ TV Series: Mike Flanagan’s Update & More Details

The katet is still coming to your TV screens … sometime. Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy first announced their intention to adapt Stephen King’s magnum opus of a book series for the small screen in 2022, but Flanagan has since turned his attention to another King adaptation in The Life of Chuck and he recently signed on to write and direct a new Exorcist film. 

So where does that leave The Dark Tower TV show? Here’s what we know so far.

Is The Dark Tower TV show still happening?

Yes — just very, very slowly. In July, Flanagan said in a podcast interview with Talking Scared that he was still working on the Dark Tower adaptation, even while making The Exorcist.

“It became so clear to me that that kind of oil tanker of a project was just gonna be moving along. It’s perfectly feasible for me to be working on other things at the same time. And I wish that wasn’t the case. And there’s gonna be a point hopefully soon where that project needs to knock everything else outta the way, where Tower has to kind of assert itself. We’re just not. And I couldn’t make that the case now if I wanted to. There’s just too much we’re still having to kind of get through to get it up,” he explained.

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Does The Dark Tower have a premiere date?

Unfortunately, no. And it likely won’t have one for quite some time, as production is still miles away, according to Flanagan’s latest update.

What will The Dark Tower TV show be about?

When they first announced the series in 2022, Flanagan revealed where the project was initially and what he imagined for the show. In a lengthy interview with Deadline, they revealed that the opening shot will be the text that opens the literary version as well: “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

“I have a pilot script I’m thrilled with and a very detailed outline for the first season and a broader outline for the subsequent seasons,” he explained. “I’ll tell you, more than half of my life, I’ve closed my eyes and been able to watch a lot of this play out, I’ve dreamed about this. That first shot which comes right off at the first incredible sentence of the first book, The Gunslinger, I’ve had that image just rattling around in my head since I was an undergrad. It’s going to have to get out of there eventually, I really need to get it out of my head.”

In addition to the five-season TV plan, Flanagan said he also envisions the series spawning two stand-alone feature films. 

Who will star in The Dark Tower?

No cast list has been revealed for The Dark Tower yet. However, fans can probably expect to see some of the regulars in the so-called Flanaverse — the cadre of actors who’ve repeatedly appeared in his shows and movies. That list includes Kate Siegel, Katie Parker, Carla Gugino, Rahul Kohli, Henry Thomas, Bruce Greenwood, Robert Longstreet, Michael Trucco, Alex Essoe, Samantha Sloyan, Zach Gilford, Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson Cohen, T’Nia Miller, Annabeth Gish, Crystal Balint, Ruth Codd, Igby Rigney, Sauriyan Sapkota, Kyliegh Curran, Carl Lumbly, Jacob Tremblay, Matt Biedel, and Mark Hamill.