New ‘Dark Tower’ TV Series to be ‘Totally Canon’

The live-action adaptation The Dark Tower opens this weekend, bringing Stephen King‘s work to life more than 30 years after the first installment of the eight book series was published. For fans of the film, this will merely be an introduction to this universe, as there’s a TV series on the way that will continue to explore the tale of Roland Deschain, with the film’s director recently revealing the series will tie directly into the film.

When speaking to IndieWire about the TV series, Nikolaj Arcel explained, “It’s being written. I was part of writing the pilot, like the first season ideas and the pilot and the second episode. It’s gonna be awesome. What was exciting about that, whereas with the film, we were really trying to create an introduction and make a standalone film that could sort of live in itself, but what was also exciting, working on the TV show at the same time, is that it is totally canon.”

He added, “We’re going back in the past. It’s very, very closely adhering to the Wizard and Glass novel and parts of The Gunslinger novel. That was exciting to be even more like, ‘Okay, now we’re going to be able to even lift lines directly, or like [write] characters exactly as they are. Which, as a fan, was exciting in a different way.”

With reviews finally coming out of the film, which have mostly been negative, fans have grown concerned that the universe they’ve been waiting decades to see come to life would be dead before it got to be thoroughly developed. However, fans have reason to keep their hopes alive, with former The Walking Dead showrunner Glenn Mazzara having recently been announced as the TV series’ showrunner.

“I’ve been a Stephen King fan for decades, and the opportunity to adapt The Dark Toweras a TV series is a great honor,” Mazzara explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “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.

Mazzara added, “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!”

Despite the first film adaptation failing to convey all of the complex themes and mythology of King’s initial book series, a TV series would allow a much longer form of storytelling to explore the compelling characters.

The Dark Tower opens Friday.