The Rise of Rated R: Why THE DARK TOWER Didn't Deliver All the Goods

Thou shalt not be afraid of the word "R." At least for horror films or books, right? We've seen quite the case for the rated "R" with such hits as IT, DEADPOOL, and LOGAN, so it begs the question: why not go all the way? It worked for these films (which THE EXPENDABLES III should've done). Maybe the risky R-rating has been making a comeback --

And That's Partly Why THE DARK TOWER Fizzled Out at the Box Office

Which is unheard of for a Stephen King film when you think about it. Truth be told, the movie should've knocked it out of the ballpark with a property as rich as the Dark Tower series. But even Stephen King himself commented on the fact that the film adaptation sported a sweet little PG-13 rating:

"The real problem, as far as I'm concerned is, they went into this movie, and I think this was a studio edict pretty much: this is going to be a PG-13 movie. It's going to be a tentpole movie. We want to make sure that we get people in there from the ages of, let's say, 12 right on up to whatever the target age is. Let's say 12 to 35. That's what we want. So it has to be PG-13, and when they did that I think that they lost a lot of the toughness of it and it became something where people went to it and said, Well yeah, but it's really not anything that we haven't seen before."

Interesting. So insightful the master is. Of course, I'd go as far to say that the PG-13 rating was just the start of it (with the actors portraying the characters still being the strong point in a film riddled with flaws). But all it takes is one foot down the wrong path when it comes to the making of a film.

I'd wager to say King is absolutely right. THE DARK TOWER should've been made into the "R" it was supposed to be, based on the book series. I mean, King won't sugar-coat anything at all in his stories. He never has.

However, THE DARK TOWER Wasn't Bad, Per Se -- Just Not Good Enough, Especially for This Epic Saga

What do you think, though? Did THE DARK TOWER tickle your fancy the way King did in his books? Or was it a meh feeling? Comment below!