Tuesday, J.J. Abrams revealed to MTV that he and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof would not, in fact, be adapting Stephen King’s Dark Tower series to the big screen. “You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it,” Abrams said. “After working six years on ‘Lost,’ the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up. I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.”
But it’s not all bad news for fans of King’s magnum opus. At a book signing for his newest novel, Under The Dome, the author was asked about any future plans for the Dark Tower universe, and revealed that he plans to release a new book, to take place between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla. The news was elaborated on at King’s official message board, where the moderator revealed that King won’t have enough time to start work on the new book for at least eight months, but that he already has a working title: The Wind Through The Keyhole.
Obviously, this is something to be excited about. The Dark 
Tower series is King’s masterpiece, and one of my favorite pieces of sci-fi/fantasy fiction ever. Presumably, the book will follow Roland, Susannah, Eddie, Jake, and Oy on the road from the Emerald City to the Callas; there is, after all, a pretty significant leap in action between the fourth and fifth books. There’s always the slight possibility that the book will follow the lead of Wizard and Glass and continue the story of Roland’s past, but I’d hope this isn’t the case, since this is ground that’s already being pretty well trod with Marvel’s Dark Tower comics.
At the same signing, King was also asked if Under The Dome would be turned into a movie. Without hesitation, he said no – but it would be an HBO miniseries. I haven’t seen any official announcement to support this, but assuming he wasn’t just joking, this is downright great news – partly because it means another HBO mini to look forward to, and partly because if they make one successful King show, what’s to stop them from doing Dark Tower on HBO? Certainly, in terms of content, audience and length, it would make more sense on a premium cable network than as a big-budget Hollywood PG-13 movie.
Anyway, that’s plenty to think about for the avid King fan. The book signing video is below… it’s just nice to hear him talk. Stephen King is a guy I’d really love to just grab a beer with.
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