A Guide To All The Stephen King Easter Eggs In ‘The Dark Tower’ [Updated]
Update: Now thatThe Dark Toweris out, we’ve updated our handy guide to the Stephen King easter eggs hidden in the movie.
With the release ofThe Dark Tower, it marks the (hopefully) first film adaptation ofStephen King’s multi-novel magnum opus. Our own Jacob Hall will have a full interview with directorNikolaj Arcelhere on the site in the coming days, but during their Comic-Con chat, ArcelteasedthatThe Dark Towerwill contain easter eggs reference King’s 1975 novelSalem’s Lot, and we’ve seen in previous trailers that there are references toThe Shining,It, and more.
Spoilers forThe Dark Towerahead.
In theDark Towerbooks, the titular tower is a gateway to the many worlds within King’s works. A brief teaser forThe Dark Towerdebuted at Entertainment Weekly highlights most of the Stephen King easter eggs that the film has in store for us. Here are the ones spotted in the teaser and the movie itself.
The Shining
At the beginning of the movie, Jake is forced to see a psychiatrist to discuss his strange dreams and visions. However, in the middle of his therapy session, there’s an earthquake — caused by the Man in Black’s attack on the Tower — and the movie makes a quick cut to the therapist’s desk. On that desk is a framed picture of the Overlook Hotel, the eerie setting of King’sThe Shining. The picture is from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation ofThe Shiningstarring Jack Nicholson.
Another possible reference toThe Shiningis this shot of two twins, who are prisoners of the Man in Black, which fans speculate is a nod to the terrifying Grady Twins.
Jake discovers an abandoned theme park with a very familiar name to it: Pennywise. That’s right, the name ofIt’smurderous clown pops up inThe Dark Tower, one month beforeAndy Muschietti’s adaptation ofIthits theaters in September.
“The Shine”
Jake’s prophetic powers and visions are referred to as “The Touch” in theDark Towerbooks, what the residents of Mid-World use to refer to children who have the ability to see reality beyond their natural senses. “The Touch” is swapped out for “The Shine” in the movie, and is what Jake and Roland have in common with each other, as well as other children in King’s stories. Namely, Danny Torrance inThe Shining,who has the ability to see the malicious spirits in the Overlook Hotel and talk to his not-so-imaginary friend Tony. “The Shine” has popped up in other King books as well, includingThe Stand, which describes prophetic visions as “the shining lamp of God… sometimes just the shine.”
The Shawshank Redemption
In addition to shots that referenceIt’sPennywise the Clown andThe Shining’sOverlook Hotel, we also get a look at gunslinger Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) turning a corner and smacking his hand against a poster of actressRita Hayworth, which played an important role obscuring Andy Dufresne’s escape tunnel inThe Shawshank Redemption.
Recognize that pedestrian’s canine companion? It’sCujo, the dog who becomes rabid and institutes a reign of terror over a small town in the 1992 film adaptation of King’s novel.
There’s no mistaking that shiny red and white paint job: that’sChristine, the 1958 Plymouth Fury fromJohn Carpenter’s 1983 spin on King’s book.
Mr. Mercedes
I haven’t read King’s 2014 novelMr. Mercedes, but after seeingthe trailer for the upcoming TV adaptation, that smiley face is an easy reference to point out.
Since I’ve only read the firstDark Towerbook, I don’t know if it’s canon thatMatthew McConaughey’s Walter (aka the Man in Black) actually has time to read author Paul Sheldon’s novels fromMiseryduring all of his scheming while he attempts to bring the mystical Dark Tower crashing to the ground. I prefer to think that one of his underlings just left this copy of “Misery’s Child” near his keyboard as a suggestion for something Walter should read in his spare time. “Hey Walter, I know you’re kind of busy being devious and stuff all the time, but you should really check this out!”
And finally, this portal between worlds has the numbers1408scrawled above it, which seems like a pretty clear shout-out to King’s short story and the John Cusack/Samuel L. Jackson movie adaptation of it.
Children of the Corn
After the Man in Black’s attack on a friendly village, Jake takes cover in a corn field. The cornfield imagery can be seen as a nod toward Stephen King’s 1977 short storyChildren of the Corn, later adapted to film in 1984, about a remote town whose children are involved in a killer cult.
Head over to EW to see some more potential easter eggs in their teaser, and let us know in the comments how you’re feeling about this movie.
ThisDark Towerteaser below referencesThe Shining, It, The Shawkshank Redemption, Carrie, Christine, andThe Stand. As Jacob Hall noted in our chat room, this feels more like it should be a teaser for the Hulu TV seriesCastle Rock, which is set in the Stephen King multiverse, rather than promoting a movie that will barely touch on these properties.
