Hollywood loves few things more than a Stephen King adaptation based on the raft of projects that are perpetually in development, so there was plenty of excitement when it was first announced The Dark Tower was on its way to live-action, with the sprawling fantasy epic widely regarded as the author’s magnum opus.
Instead, the multi-dimensional tale of good vs. evil spent a decade in development hell, passing through the hands of countless writers, numerous filmmakers, a bevvy of stars, and even a couple of different studios, before ultimately landing on the screen with a dull thud back in the summer of 2017.
Hacked to pieces and released as a tedious 95-minute movie, The Dark Tower scored a paltry 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, flopping at the box office for good measure after earning just $113 million. It remains one of the most notable bombs of the modern era, something Kathryn Winnick is very much aware of.
In an interview with Collider, the Vikings alum admitted she thought it was going to be a guaranteed success based on the talent involved, only for things to turn out disastrously.
“Dark Tower was a very challenging project. I think it [has] a lot to do [with] where we were shooting, too. We shot that in South Africa, and there were crew issues and budgeting issues and what exactly was it gonna be? Obviously with an incredible cast like Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba you would think it’s a slam dunk, but sometimes if it’s not executed right in terms of budgeting for visuals effects or how to tell the story a certain way, you can get into a little bit of a trouble that way.”
A double-quick episodic reboot was announced shortly after The Dark Tower bombed, but with that too having been shelved, it could be a while before someone finally does King’s work justice.
