Forget about Sony’s terrible The Dark Tower movie from earlier this summer (if you haven’t already). Stephen King’s book series that inspired that monstrosity is considered his masterpiece, a sprawling and epic adventure that blends elements from Westerns, horror, sci-fi fantasy and Arthurian legend. King himself has appointed his Dark Tower series as the connective tissue holding together all of the major works from his prolific career (and discussed why the film failed). After eight books set in this world (of which, we know, there are others) published over 30 years, the author may be returning for one more story.
During a recent Q&A, a fan asked King if he might publish another Dark Tower book. His response was pretty straight forward.
The author says succinctly, “Yes, I think that might happen.” No, that isn’t a guarantee of any sorts, but it does mark the first time in years that King has opened the door to the possibility. But will anyone outside of die-hard King fans be excited? As we already mentioned, The Dark Tower movie was a flop (even if Sony was right to give it a shot) and the upcoming prequel TV show—said to be a direct adaptation of Wizard and Glass—is currently in limbo. In terms of mainstream attention, the screen adaptation hurt the overall brand.
There’s also the question of what a new Dark Tower book would even cover. King has already returned to the series once after its conclusion, with 2012’s The Wind Through The Key Hole. Though it was set within the main story’s continuity, it didn’t really have any impact on the primary plot. Rather, it was more of a self-contained world building effort as opposed to a continuation of the main arc. Would another entry in the series go the same route?
We’ll have to wait for more details about this to come out before we can make any judgments.
