THE DARK TOWER TV series gets its showrunner

Sony Television has confirmed that former Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara will be helming the forthcoming TV version of The Dark Tower, based on Stephen King's eight-volume fantasy series. The TV show is a companion to the film starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey which opens this weekend.

The TV show will draw on the novel Wizard and Glass and flashback sequences in the other novels to chart the early life and development of Roland Deschain of Gilead, the adult version of whom is played in the film by Elba. Elba is provisionally tapped to appear in the TV show in framing sequences where he discusses his backstory with other characters.

Sony is currently developing the show, like its Wheel of Time project, without hooking up with a major television studio or network. However, the interest of a studio is likely contingent on the performance of the movie, which has been receiving mainly negative reviews so far.