Mike Flanagan 'desperate' for The Dark Tower

Page Six reports that Mike Flanagan is still holding out hope for his long-gestating adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. The creator of "The Haunting of Hill House" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" told the outlet he's "desperate" to make it happen.

"It's no secret to anybody that I'm desperate to make 'The Dark Tower,' and to continue that journey with Stephen King," Flanagan said. Both have been working on scripts for years, but legal issues remain. "We just need that starter pistol to go off. We need the green light," he told Page Six.

Previous attempts haven't gone well: a 2017 movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey holds a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Amazon passed on a pilot in 2020. Flanagan got involved with the rights in 2022 and says he and King have a "creative" take.

Aside from "The Dark Tower," Flanagan named other King novels he'd love to adapt. "Revival" is one he said he had a great script for, though a 2016 version with Russell Crowe fell through and Flanagan's version is no longer in development. "Hearts in Atlantis" is a "dream project," he told Page Six; that story was previously a 2001 movie with Anthony Hopkins.

Flanagan also revealed he's "super into" "Hex" by Dutch author Thomas Olde Heuvelt, calling it "a terrific and terrifying book." He even included a wink to it in his new series "Carrie," which premieres Oct. 7 on Prime Video.

For fans of Flanagan's King adaptations — which include "Gerald's Game," "Doctor Sleep," and the upcoming "The Life of Chuck" — this list is basically a wishlist. We're rooting for that starter pistol.

• Carrie
• Mike Flanagan
• Prime Video
• Revival
• Stephen King
• The Dark Tower