By Peter Martin
The big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower opened in theaters over the weekend, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. It topped the box office charts, which reflects the high anticipation for the first screen version of King’s epic work.
Still, it fell short of expectations and did not fare particularly well with critics, as its Rotten Tomatoes score reflects. What does that mean for the future of The Dark Tower?
Is this first movie a total write-off?
Oh, no. Reportedly, the budget was a relatively modest $60 million and it’s made nearly $20 million so far just in the U.S. So the movie has a fair shot at recouping its costs through the international theatrical release and home video market.
What about the TV series?
As we’ve already noted, a television series is still moving forward. Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead, Damien) will guide the series as showrunner. The idea is to feature the heroic Gunslinger in his younger years.
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What about more movies?
That’s not resolved yet. Interestingly, before the release of The Dark Tower, Stephen King told Cinema Blend: “I’d love to see the next picture be R. That’s sort of where we’re coming from now, and where the movie needs to go. PG-13 was the safe spot to go. When pictures were R, the studio execs would say, ‘Well, we know that this is going to make 20% or 30% less money because we’re going to exclude a prime tenderloin part of the moviegoing public.’ I think that movie’s like Deadpool have changed that.”
We’re not expecting any decision on more movies to be made quickly. It’s likely, in fact, that any sequel plans will be put on hold until the TV show debuts.
The show is heading to the Starz premium cable service, which means that it it can contain material intended for adults that would earn it an R-rating if it played in theaters. So the future of The Dark Tower may indeed be R-rated, as Stephen King wishes, but it may not return to the big screen for a while yet.
Source:: http://www.movies.com/movie-news/future-39the-dark-tower39/22949?wssac=164&wssaffid=news
