Stephen King’s contributions to literature are undeniable. The writer remains the most recognizable face of this generation’s horror genre—arguably ever. Seriously, even the most horror-averse audiences out there know of Stephen King. There’s a solid chance they even like some of his work. Decades of novels, stories, and teleplays have also been a boon on the cinematic end. It’s not horror without Stephen King, and every year, there’s at least one adaptation for you to enjoy.
Last year, we got the long-awaited Salem’s Lot remake, and even though it wasn’t great, it’s always fascinating to see new creatives try their hand at King’s material. The year before, we got The Boogeyman. That was a movie. I kid, but genuinely, there are a lot of sleeper gems out there adapted from or inspired by King’s work. The Langoliers remains excellent, Pet Sematary 2 is a classic (to me), and Riding the Bullet deserves nothing but love. One of the more recent adaptations from the last decade isn’t quite so good, but it is now streaming on Netflix so that you can decide for yourself.
Per Netflix: A teenager with psychic powers meets the last Gunslinger, who must stop a sorcerer from destroying the one thing that holds the universe together.
Besides the movie, the extent of my knowledge of The Dark Tower comes from a man outside a San Diego Marriott Hotel in 2017. I was at a popular culture conference, and he had my head spinning with eight novels worth of lore and implications for the broader King universe. Did I understand most of it? No, but I did glean just how important The Dark Tower is to many readers.
Nikolaj Arcel’s 2017 adaptation starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey was unfortunately a critical and commercial flop, a far cry from what fans wanted from the long-gestating project. The Dark Tower only managed $113 against a $66 million budget, and the 16% rotten Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads, “Go then, there are other Stephen King adaptations than these.” Brutal.
A sequel and television series were allegedly planned, but the film’s performance squashed those hopes. Despite defending the film’s writer, even Stephen King himself remarked to Vulture, “The major challenge was to do a film based on a series of books that’s really long, about 3,000 pages. The other part of it was the decision to do a PG-13 feature adaptation of books that are extremely violent and deal with violent behavior in a fairly graphic way.”
What do you think? Are you a fan of The Dark Tower movie? Any plans to catch it now on Netflix? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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