Idris Elba’s Dark Tower Movie Deserves Redemption With a Sequel

Idris Elba is one of Hollywood’s most reliable stars. His natural charm and captivating presence make him a truly gifted actor, able to elevate even average movies. He consistently brings a cool and magnetic energy to his roles, which is a key part of what makes him so popular.

Even the appeal of Idris Elba couldn’t rescue the 2017 film, The Dark Tower, which unfortunately wasn’t a success.

The Dark Tower Was Nothing Short of an Unmitigated Disaster

©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower is widely considered one of his weakest movie adaptations. Critics disliked it, and it didn’t perform well at the box office. It currently has a very low 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences gave it a somewhat better score of 44%, it still wasn’t enough to make it a financial success.

The Dark Tower Doesn’t Give Its Actors Enough to Do

Credit: Ilze Kitshoff. Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Idris Elba received consistent praise for his portrayal of Roland Deschain, but many felt the character wasn’t featured enough in the story.

Even though Matthew McConaughey is a popular and talented actor, comparable to Idris Elba, he doesn’t showcase any of that skill in The Dark Tower. He’s usually great at bringing a playful, charismatic quality to his roles, but that’s completely missing in this film.

The movie’s brief length doesn’t do justice to the rich world and storytelling of Stephen King, which likely explains its struggles at the box office.

Still, as surprising as it is, The Dark Tower had one ardent defender: Stephen King himself.

Stephen King is The Dark Tower’s Biggest Defender

Credit: Roger Wong/INFphoto.com

Even though The Dark Tower movie was widely criticized, Stephen King apparently still had a soft spot for it.

In a 2017 interview with Vulture, King particularly complimented the film’s writer, Akiva Goldsman.

I really liked how Akiva Goldsman adapted a key part of the book into a solid film.

Surprisingly, Stephen King appears to like the movie adaptation of The Dark Tower more than some of the people who made it. Producer Ron Howard has admitted he wishes a few creative choices had been different, and writer Akiva Goldsman has said he feels he could have done a better job of capturing the spirit of the original books.

I really wish things had gone better with that project. We actually had a great idea for it a long time ago, before TV crossovers and streaming services became popular.

Although many viewers just noticed The Dark Tower didn’t do well in theaters, its failure actually had a much bigger impact than just on that single film.

The Dark Tower’s Failure Killed a Potentially Massive Franchise

Credit: Jessica Miglio/Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Prior to the 2017 release of The Dark Tower film, plans existed to expand the story into a larger series of movies and potentially other media.

In 2016, plans were announced for a Dark Tower television series, initially scheduled to premiere in 2018. Those involved with the first film also often discussed the possibility of making a sequel, potentially based on the second book in the series, The Drawing of the Three.

Unfortunately, The Dark Tower‘s poor reception killed those hopes before they could manifest.

Back in 2018, Amazon bought the rights to create a TV series based on The Dark Tower. However, they never actually filmed a pilot episode, and the project has been stalled ever since, leaving its future uncertain.

Despite The Dark Tower’s Numerous Failures, It Absolutely Deserves a Sequel

The Dark Tower is a critically flawed movie with solid bones.

Even though The Dark Tower movie wasn’t a success, both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey proved they were well-suited for their characters.

Idris Elba definitely possesses the rough, appealing quality that Roland Deschain embodies, and Matthew McConaughey would make a compelling, yet oddly charming, Man in Black.

The Dark Tower’s Behind-the-Scenes Crew Was Stacked

I was really intrigued to learn that Nikolaj Arcel directed The Dark Tower. I already knew his work – he wrote the screenplay for the first Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie back in 2009, which I thought was fantastic, so I was excited to see his vision for this new film.

In 2012, Nikolaj Arcel wrote and directed the film A Royal Affair, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film.

Akiva Goldsman, the screenwriter, also received an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind.

With such a talented group of actors and filmmakers involved, another attempt at a Dark Tower movie could potentially be excellent.

What The Dark Tower’s Sequel Would Need to Get Right

If a sequel to The Dark Tower were made, it should prioritize giving Idris Elba, who plays Roland Deschain, a more central role. He’s the primary character in the book series and Elba portrays him well, so increased screen time and involvement would likely make the film more satisfying for viewers.

Another key improvement for the next Dark Tower adaptation would be to embrace the more unusual and surreal aspects of Stephen King’s books. Dark Tower is where King really pushes boundaries and gets creatively strange, and bringing more of those original horror elements into the project would make it much richer and more engaging.

Finally, the movie really needed an R rating. The Dark Tower gets quite intense and frightening, as you’d expect from Stephen King, and not showing that held back the film from being a faithful adaptation.

Unfortunately, The Dark Tower Is Probably On Hold For a Good While

Image via Everett Collection

Although many fans would love to see another Dark Tower movie, it probably won’t happen in the near future because the first one wasn’t very well-received.

Stephen King is the most well-known horror author ever, and many consider his Dark Tower series to be his greatest work. Fans are hoping that Idris Elba will be part of any future adaptations of The Dark Tower.

2026-01-23 02:33