EXCLUSIVE: Stephen King Confirms He's Writing for Mike Flanagan's Dark Tower Adaptation: 'It's Happening' - IGN Fan Fest 2025

Mike Flanagan, the acclaimed director behind adaptations of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game, has promised a faithful adaptation of King’s epic fantasy saga, The Dark Tower. This commitment is further solidified by an exclusive revelation from IGN: Stephen King himself is collaborating with Flanagan on the project.

In an interview promoting The Monkey, King confirmed his involvement, stating, "All I can say is it's happening. I am writing stuff now and I think that's all I want to say because the next thing you know, I'll stir up a bunch of stuff I don't necessarily want to stir up yet. I'm in process right now, and to say too much feels like a jinx."

The Essentials: Stephen King's Dark Tower Multiverse

20 Images

The Dark Tower, a sprawling saga begun in 1970 with The Gunslinger, is one of King’s most celebrated and personal works. King’s contribution to Flanagan’s adaptation remains speculative, though his previous work on The Stand’s epilogue offers a precedent. The sheer scale of The Dark Tower, encompassing much of King’s wider fictional universe, presents numerous opportunities for enriching the existing story.

Flanagan’s commitment to fidelity is reassuring, given the 2017 film adaptation’s shortcomings. In a 2022 interview with IGN, Flanagan emphasized his intention to stay true to the source material, stating it "would look like the books" and rejecting the temptation to transform it into something like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. He added, "It is what it is, what it is is perfect. It's just as exciting as all of those things and just as immersive. It's a story about a tiny group of people, all the odds in the whole world are against them, and they come together. As long as it's that, it'll be fine and there won't be a dry eye in the house."

While the release date and format of Flanagan’s Dark Tower adaptation remain uncertain, Flanagan has other King projects in the works. His adaptation of The Life of Chuck is slated for a May release, and he’s developing a Carrie series for Amazon.