J.J. Abrams No Longer Adapting Dark Tower

Published by Jeff Leins on November 12, 2009

J.J. Abrams is unfortunately not adapting Stephen King’s sprawling Dark Tower series.  The director/producer had expressed interest in May along with “Lost” executive producer Damon Lindelof, but it seems the possibility was too good to be true.  The two even went as far as purchasing the option from King for $19.

In an interview with MTV this week, Abrams said, “The Dark Tower thing is tricky.  It’s such an important piece of writing. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now.”

Lindelof confirmed this by telling USA Today after six years of working on “Lost,” the last thing he wants to do is dive into the seven-novel series.  The challenge of staying faithful to the material is the sticking point for Lindelof, who referenced Zack Snyder’s difficulty in bringing Watchmen to the screen.

UPDATE: At a Walmart in Dundalk, Maryland, Stephen King took part in a Q&A with fans.  When asked about Dark Tower, King said he wanted to write one more book that will come between “Wizard and Glass”and “Wolves of the Calla.”  (via DreadCentral)

I haven’t read the books myself (though I’ve been meaning to) but News in Film contributor Jeremy, who admittedly is a bit of a bookworm, wrote, “It was easily one of the best series of books I have ever read.”  Now that there’s no movie version on the horizon, I guess I’ll just have to read them.  (Kidding.)

Lindelof concluded by saying, “I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.”