Stephen King Admits ‘Dark Tower’ Movie ‘Isn’t Exactly’ His Novel

Hitting theaters later this summer is the long-awaited theatrical adaptation of the Stephen King series of novels The Dark Tower, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. King has given the film his blessing, in addition to supporting director Nikolaj Arcel, who recently revealed King’s initial thoughts upon seeing the completed film.

When speaking with IGN, Arcel revealed, “After he saw the film for the first time, [King wrote to me], ‘This is not exactly my novel but this is very much the spirit and the tone. And I’m very happy.”

Considering the original series consists of eight books and a novella, trying to pack all that information into one film would be a nearly impossible task. Additionally, were the filmmakers to attempt to adapt only one book in the series, they’d only be giving audiences a fraction of the entire narrative.

Instead, The Dark Tower takes elements of the first books while also incorporating new and original ideas, guaranteeing audiences both fresh and familiar with the series have plenty to look forward to.

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Arcel shouldn’t have been too surprised by King’s reaction, as the author provided the director with script notes while the project was being developed.

“At one point he said, ‘I have some notes for script.’ And he sent us a hard copy of the script, with hand-written notes,” Arcel noted. “He was very polite and very respectful. It was always like, ‘Maybe Roland doesn’t talk so much here’…he was just like the groundskeeper of the characters.”

The Dark Tower is far from the only Stephen King related project getting released this year, as the author is seeing all sorts of live-action adaptations from his properties.

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On June 22, a new 10-episode series based on The Mist will be hitting Spike, expanding upon the original novella and 2007 film in ways audiences haven’t seen before. Rather than focusing on an isolated group of survivors at a grocery store, this new series will show what happens to an entire town when a mysterious fog descends upon it.

A month after The Dark Tower‘s release, the latest adaptation of his killer clown story It will get the big screen treatment, which has already broken records with its trailer alone.

Also slated for release this year is the film Gerald’s Game, which will be headed to Netflix from Hush director Mike Flanagan.

The Dark Tower hits theaters August 4.