Very little is certain about The Dark Tower‘s franchise future at this point. Despite the franchise spanning seven mainline novels — in addition to a considerable number of ancillary stories and tie-ins to other King titles — it seems increasingly likely that we’re just going to get the one movie and maybe a TV series follow-up.
While there are a lot of factors leading into the franchise’s uncertain future — including the needlessly complicated reality of film rights dispersal and Sony’s decision to blow through upwards of three books all at once — the most obvious reason why is that it’s being universally hailed as a terrible movie, a fact that will likely dissuade many moviegoers from giving the oddball cult property a try. Thanks to its uncommonly low budget and built-in audience, however, it’s possible that it could still turn a profit.
That has proven to be enough for Sony to think seriously about The Dark Tower’s future has a film franchise. You see, they’re desperate for a hit movie, and even a modest success could still prove to be worth their time. This is why they’re going ahead with plans for a sequel TV series that will cover the events of the series’ fourth book, Wizard and Glass.
But is even Sony desperate enough to roll the dice on another major film adaptation from the series? The first film languished for a full decade in Developmental Hell and is expecting to post meager returns for its opening weekend. The one thing in its favor is that for all of the trouble it was to make, it was cheap, and doesn’t need to draw in much of a crowd to make a return on its studio’s investment in it.
Compared to movies, TV series are also cheap. Sure, it’s going to feature some high-end acting talent, with actor Idris Elba set to reprise his role for the small screen, but their budgets are small and production costs can be spread out over the course of a year or more, depending on its production schedule.
At this point, Sony should just cut their losses. They made what’s proven to be a dud. Circumstances being what they are, they might not take a loss on that failed gamble. Are they really going to double down and hope to get things right the second time around?
One person who thinks they should is the novels’ author: Stephen King. In fact, if they ever get around to making a sequel, he wanted it to be rated R. He stated in a recent interview that:
“I understand the rationale behind the movie that is PG-13. I was totally signed off on that. I want as many people in the tent as possible, for all kinds of reasons. Part of it having to do with the dynamic between the Gunslinger and the boy. That’s a father-son relationship. But 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.”
An R rating makes a lot of sense for whatever else comes of this franchise. It’s full of some seriously adult situations that under no circumstances could pass for PG-13. The series’ first entry, The Gunslinger, had an underage child getting rescued by the title character from a Succubus: a demonic creature that feeds off of sexual energy and was attempting to rape the boy to death.
One of the series’ protagonists is a junkie who spends a considerable part of his introduction going through heroin withdrawal. Another one of Roland’s ka-tet is a woman with multiple personalities, one of which is a foul-mouthed, violent sociopath. Zombies, Werewolves and otherworldly terrors — typical of R-rated movies — feature prominently throughout the franchise.
The problem is that R-rated movies, by cutting off a considerable portion of its potential audience, simply don’t make the same kind of money that their teen-friendly counterparts do. And if The Dark Tower movie is any indication for the franchise’s financial prospects, it doesn’t have very much room to work with in that regard.
Who knows, maybe we will see a Dark Tower 2 hitting theaters a few years down the road. Sony’s film division is in a tough spot financially and really do need to start churning out a couple of breadwinners. Maybe the first movie does alright and the TV series brings in a wider audience to tap into. Either way, I don’t see Sony upping the franchise to R, regardless of what King wants to see happen.
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