Frank Darabont Reveals Why He Passed on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: Inside Story!

Frank Darabont, known for his adaptations of several Stephen King novels, recently discussed why he chose not to take on The Dark Tower. His notable adaptations include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), and The Mist (2007).

In the opening scene of The Mist, the character David Drayton, played by Thomas Jane, is depicted painting a portrait of Roland Deschain, the main character from The Dark Tower. At the 2007 New York Comic Con, Stephen King mentioned that Darabont had shown interest in adapting the series, but he had to decline because he was overwhelmed with other projects.

In a conversation with IndieWire, Darabont clarified that it was actually he who declined King’s proposal. He felt deeply honored by the offer, but admitted he was too “exhausted” at that stage of his career to commit to a project as vast and complex as The Dark Tower, which he believed could potentially span a decade to faithfully adapt. Below are Darabont’s own words:

“Actually, I can correct that: I actually turned Steve down. He called me once, and it’s not the only time he ever called me, but he called me once and asked me if I was interested in taking on ‘The Dark Tower.’ I was very flattered and very honored that he asked me. But man, so much of that story is so internalized. It’s so in the heads of the characters, and it’s this massive, endless story as well. I thought, oh my god, this could be the next 10 years of my life and miss the mark, because it is a diabolically difficult thing to adapt. And at that point, I was just exhausted anyway.”

“And I said, ‘Steve, I love you… Thank you for asking, but I gotta not do this.’ I would have frozen in place if I had. He was very, very kind about that and then moved on with it. A couple of years later, when we were having a conversation, I said, ‘So wait, what’s going on with ‘The Dark Tower’? I don’t know, I might reconsider that.’ He said, ‘Oh, no, it’s with somebody else by now.’ So you know, that may be where the he turned me down thing comes from.”

“You know, who knows? These were just honestly idle conversations that occur on occasion between me and Steve King, one of the world’s greatest people. I really owe him so much. You can imagine, my whole directing career, I owe to Steve King.”

The Dark Tower eventually made its way to the big screen in a 2017 film directed by Nikolaj Arcel, featuring Idris Elba as Roland, Matthew McConaughey as Walter Padick, and Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers. The film did not fare well, earning a mere 16% on the Tomatometer and 44% on the Popcornmeter, reflecting negative receptions from critics and audiences alike.

Since 2022, Mike Flanagan has been developing a Dark Tower series. Flanagan is also renowned for adapting King’s work, with projects like Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep under his belt, along with the upcoming Carrie series for Prime Video. At a Motor City Comic Con panel, Flanagan mentioned that the series is taking “a long time” to materialize, partly due to difficulties in securing rights for specific characters.

Frank Darabont came out of retirement to direct episodes 3 and 5 of Stranger Things‘ final season. Before this, his last directorial work was on TNT’s Mob City in 2013 and The Mist in 2007.

According to Darabont, his return to directing was spurred by his and his wife’s enthusiasm for Stranger Things. Initially slated to direct only episode 5, he ended up also directing episode 3 after the original director had to bow out due to scheduling issues. Darabont has expressed openness to directing again, provided the environment is supportive and trusts the filmmaker’s vision. While Flanagan leads the adaptation of The Dark Tower, which is still years from its debut, Darabont’s comments suggest he might consider directing an episode if the conditions align.