My Vision for The Dark Tower Series of Films

When I heard the JJ Abrams purchased the rights to "The Dark Tower" from Stephen King for $19, I got pretty excited. I have been a fan of the novels since I was a kid. I remember buying the first and second books at Target, and looking at the paintings inside, and just loving the fantasy-world that Stephen King had created. It is my hope that JJ is able to pull the series off, but being the fan that I am, and also trying to break into the screenwriting business, I decided to write my own adaptation of "The Gunslinger."

I wrote it, had fun writing it, thought it worked pretty well as a film, so I tried sending it to JJ at Bad Robot - they don't accept anything at all, even phone calls. Then I tried sending it to JJ's agents - even they don't accept anything at all. No wonder Hollywood has run out of new ideas and new talent. They aren't looking for any! Finally, I searched online for any screenwriting contests I could enter - they don't accept any unauthorized adaptations. So, after three brick walls, I've posted it here for your enjoyment.

My overall vision for The Dark Tower is a series of feature films. I think a mini-series would be a disaster. In a mini-series - especially a mini-series for each film - the screenwriter is allowed to make the story as long as desired. In a feature film, the screenwriter is forced to condense the story into 120 minutes or less (unless he's Peter Jackson). I am a huge fan of Stephen King, but let's face it, he can get long-winded. His script for "Storm of the Century" is a perfect example of a great concept, but bloated and boring story on screen. Most times in the screenwriting biz (even though I know nothing of it) less is more. I also believe, considering the enormity of the world SK created over his career, The Dark Tower deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Above all, the films must be faithful adaptations of the novels - I hate movies that stray too far from the originals.

The only other possibility that I see would be a television series, with the quality of Battlestar Galactica, over seven seasons - one season for each novel.

But I would go with feature films. The next decision to make in my visioning process is - what book goes first, and how many movies overall? Even though chronologically the story in "Wizard and Glass" is first, I have chosen to start where King started, with "The Gunslinger." I also see a series of six films, or two trilogies, with one book for each film except "Wizard and Glass," which would be skipped. If the two trilogies were a success, W&G could be done as a prequel.

I also see two trilogies working much the same way as Lucas' Star Wars, except we wouldn't be starting with Episode 4.

For those familiar with the story of The Dark Tower, the first trilogy would be a complete story. The Gunslinger, Drawing of the Three, and Wastelands is the story of the formation of Roland's Ka-tet. The second trilogy - Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower - would continue the story of Roland's Ka-tet and their quest. I would sell the project to producers as two trilogies - that is, if the first trilogy is unsuccessful, we can stop there and the project would feel complete, if unfinished. If a success, the second trilogy would be funded.

With this philosophy, I have focused on how the first trilogy of films. If you haven't read the books, or want to read my script and not know how it ends, it might be best if you stop reading this post now.

Episode 1 - The Gunslinger

This film would introduce Roland, the last Gunslinger living in a strange world that has "moved on." Roland is in pursuit of the man in black, whom he hopes leads him on his quest for the Dark Tower. He hopes to save the world that has crumbled and continues to crumble all around him - it is his only reason for living, having lost all. As he crosses the desert into the unknown West, he is joined by the boy named Jake - not of Roland's world, but our own, specifically New York City decades ago. The core of the first film is the father-son relationship between Roland and Jake. Through that relationship that battle-hardened and cold Roland regains his ability to love again, and is forced to choose between that love and the Tower.

The first book is a collection of short stories King wrote about Roland, his past, and his pursuit of the man in black. I have skipped all the flashbacks but one, never looking back and keeping the story in the present and moving forward towards the Tower. I want the audience to feel Roland's relentless determination to find the Tower, to keep moving forward, and looking back with flashbacks, while helping flesh out the world he lives in, would stop the momentum of the film. As a result, The Gunslinger is a series of action sequences as Roland and Jake chase the man in black west.

The film opens in Tull, a town under the spell of the man in black on the edge of the desert, and grabs the audience's attention with an intense action sequence where Roland must fight the entire town. In the book, Roland stays in the town for a few days - in the film, he stays in the town a few hours.

The film closes on the ocean beach west of the mountains, in front of the strange door - a Door of Drawing - sitting upright in the sand with the words "The Prisoner" writ upon it. This reveal does not occur in the novels until the beginning of The Drawing of the Three - but as an epilogue of the first film, it serves as an effective cliffhanger and will make the audience anxious and excited to see the sequel.

Episode 2 - The Drawing of the Three

There are no flashbacks in the novel The Drawing of the Three, and thankfully so - because the story centers around the Drawing Doors on the ocean beach, where Roland retrieves members of his Ka-tet - his team - that will aid him in his quest for the Tower. The Drawing Doors open onto our world - again, New York City, at different periods of time in the past - and that is enough jumping around in time and place for one movie.

I haven't thought about this one in as much detail as The Gunslinger, but the film will open with Roland discovering and opening the first door, and his battle with the vicious lobstrosities - a slight change from the novel in combining the two events for more impact and excitement.

The film will end with the revelation that Jake is still alive, walking safely across the street in NYC - the paradoxical implications of which will spill over into the next film. Again, this serves as a great cliffhanger, and instead of having this happen 3/4 through the novel, it will happen at the end instead. And hopefully, after investing in the character Jake in the first film, they will be cheering for the third installment.

One change I may make more visceral and obvious is the appearance of the man in black in the second film - he is hinted at in the novels, but I would like to see the man in black become a recurring character in the films - the "big bad" that is a constant presence - where he kind of pops in now and again in the novels.

Episode 3 - The Wastelands

With Roland's Ka-tet almost completely formed, the first half to two-thirds of Wastelands is about the reunion of Roland and Jake and the completion of the Ka-tet. This is one of the best sequences in the novels, and I'd love to see it on film.

The film will open with the battle with Shardik, the giant bear and guardian of the Beam, and end with Roland's Ka-tet racing across the Wastelands on Blaine the Mono, exactly the same as the novel. The only changes I would make in general would be the monsters and bad guys not being so easy to kill - especially the robots with the antennas/dishes on their heads.

The Second Trilogy

The second trilogy will be very complicated to pull off, with connections between King's other books and characters made, and links to King himself. I don't know how much of this would work in a movie. The fact that there are infinite realities and levels of the Tower makes for other possibilities, including links with other movies instead of books being a possibility in the films. This inter-connection of worlds is the central problem in telling the story of the second trilogy, and I haven't mulled it over enough yet to see exactly where I would go with it.

There are a couple things that I would've liked to have seen different in the novels, and I would take the opportunity to change in the films:

1. The final demise of the man in black. Really lame. I would fix this for sure, building up a character to have his demise just kind of happen would be even more of a let-down in the films than in the novels. Like I said, I would have Marten/man in black be a continual presence in the films, and perhaps have him there with Roland at the end, standing before the Dark Tower. I don't even know if I'd kill him off.
2. Roland's "son" Mordred - I thought for sure he was going to end up being the child-killing monster in "It." With all the other connections, it was too perfect a connection to pass up, and yet King did, and I have no idea why.