THE DARK TOWER is basically author Stephen King's LORD OF THE RINGS (which is something he himself has claimed). It's a high-fantasy novel series, that – instead of a Medieval Tolkein-esque world of elves, dwarves, and orcs – is set in a western themed world, with cowboys wielding magic guns, and even evil cowboy wizards! Here's the official synopsis:
Roland Deschain is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of "Arthur Eld", his world's analogue of King Arthur. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West but is also magical. Many of the magical aspects have vanished from Mid-World, but traces remain as do relics from a technologically advanced society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and it appears to be coming apart at the seams. Mighty nations have been torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish without a trace and time does not flow in an orderly fashion. Sometimes, even the sun rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.
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So THE DARK TOWER seemed ripe for a film, or even TV, adaptation since the beginning, but the property – due to the high cost, but also weird nature of the series (which included Stephen King as an actual character!) – kept it stuck in development hell for decades. Then, around 2017, not only was there going to be a big-budget THE DARK TOWER movie coming to theaters (starring Idris Elba as Roland), but an Amazon TV series to compliment it! However, only the film got released (and subsequently bombed with critics and audiences alike), and the Amazon series was quietly put to pasture.
Now, even though the series will likely never see the light of day, Lilja's Library reviewed a copy of the pilot (which you can read here!) and even released some stills from the show, which you can witness below:
So, what do you guys think? Would have preferred this version over the movie? Or are you glad it'll never see the light of day? Either way, sound off below!
