Carla Gugino spoke with director Mike Flanagan about her appearance in THE DARK TOWER

Mike Flanagan has worked hard to develop its series and the film adaptation of Stephen Kingis the epic western fantasy The Dark Tower. This is a project that many King fans are eagerly awaiting, and there’s a good chance that Flanagan will choose his frequent collaborator Carla Gugino in the film, but no casting announcement has been made.

In a recent interview with The Playlist, Gugino confirmed that he had spoken to Flanagan about appearing in the adaptation but, as you might imagine, he didn’t share any further details. She said:

“There was a conversation about ‘The Dark Tower,’ but I don’t have any other information I could share beyond that. I hope it all comes together. I know it’s something he’s incredibly passionate about. I mean, I think it’s fantastic, just as Stephen King. And yet he also has such a strong voice that it’s somehow beautiful, you know?

“Gerald’s game is so faithful to the book, to the point where the ending, which I think is actually imperative, was a part that people responded to or didn’t respond to. And Mike was so clear in saying, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” Yet, I thought he did it so perfectly.

Flanagan, who is behind projects such as The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight snack, Gerald’s GameAND Doctor Sleepplans to adapt the books as a five-season series that will be followed by two standalone films.

When Flanagan first announced the project, he said that the pilot script was “one of the favorite things I’ve ever worked on”. At the time he shared:

“I wrote a pilot, we consider it as a series that will last at least five seasons. And having lived with this project for so long, I have a huge amount of it processed in my brain. But I have a pilot script that I’m excited about and a very detailed outline for the first season and a larger outline for subsequent seasons. I think ultimately, if we’re able to get this going, there are other writers I want to bring into that process that I’ve worked with before; I think they would be really fabulous for a very small, intimate writing room where we can continue to break the boundary.

“I’ll tell you, for more than half my life, I’ve closed my eyes and been able to watch a lot of this unfold, I’ve dreamed about it. That first shot that gets right to the first incredible sentence of the first book, The Gunslinger, I’ve had that image running through my head since I was a college student. Sooner or later I’ll have to get this out of my head, I really need to get this out of my head.

“The pilot script is one of my favorite things I’ve ever worked on. It was surreal working on this. We were therefore shocked and grateful that Stephen King trusted us with such an undertaking, something so precious to him, and we hope to find the right partners to make it happen.”

Flanagan also said he’s looking to include characters from Doctor Sleep in The Dark Tower. He explained how this would be possible by saying:

“The thing about King’s universe is that it’s all connected. And the focal point of these connections is The Dark Tower. In the Dark Tower universe there are all these other characters from King’s world that come into play in different ways. When you make changes to the source material to introduce characters who could have played a very important role in that story… Doctor Sleep was written after The Dark Tower was finished.

He also went on to talk about the potential for adding these characters to his Dark Tower project:

“Abra Stone in the Dark Tower universe, as Breaker [telepathic agent], it’s really interesting. There’s a character in The Dark Tower called Dandelo, who I think is a cousin of True Knot, who is an emotional vampire but who feeds on laughter instead of fear. But there’s room in that world for True Knot themselves, there’s room for Rose The Hat. There might be room for Danny Torrance. There are all kinds of things that could be amazing, if we were able to get that property back on its feet. There are ways to fit other things into King’s universe, and I think the Shining universe – the Doctor Sleep universe – could fit right in with that. Especially because, in our film, Dick Hallorann almost points to the Dark Tower in his last scene with Dan.”

Gugino has appeared in many of Flanagan’s projects, including Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight snack AND The Fall of House Usher. It would be great to see her appear in The Dark Tower, and if she does, it will be interesting to see who she plays.