‘The Dark Tower’ Trailer Features ‘The Shining’ and ‘It’ References

The long-awaited trailer for the theatrical adaptation of The Dark Tower debuted today, thrilling Stephen King fans around the world. Adding to the excitement of seeing some of the most compelling King characters finally brought to life, the trailer included some subtle references to the King classics It and The Shining.

UP NEXT: The Dark Tower Trailer #1 Has Been Released

In addition to Dark Tower finally getting an official trailer, it received an official release date, August 4. Just slightly more than a month after the film hits theaters, another Stephen King adaptation, It, will be released.

For those attentive viewers, you might have noticed a few references to other Stephen King stories buried within.

For starters, it appears as though a photo of the Overlook Hotel appears on a therapist’s desk:

This hotel is the location featured in King’s The Shining, in which caretaker Jack Torrance was tasked with maintaining in the winter season with his family, only to lose his mind due to supernatural forces and violently attack his family.

The other reference in the Dark Tower trailer was a little more subtle, but ties into his novel It:

Could this be a reference to the monstrous Pennywise’s theme park?

It’s too early to tell if these are direct references to a potential shared Stephen King universe or if they are just subtle nods from the filmmaker to the source material, but either way, it’s exciting to see the tributes to the author.

It’s important to note that the live-action adaptation of The Dark Tower isn’t a re-telling of a specific book in the series, but rather a combination of multiple different elements that appear throughout the series.

Considering the success of shared universe films, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the sequels and spin-offs related to The Conjuring, the potential for a big screen Stephen King shared universe could result in some really amazing films.

Between film and TV, there have been varying degrees of successful Stephen King adaptations, with plenty of his stories deserving a big budget treatment, so we hope The Dark Tower and It could lead to a series of interconnected King stories that incorporate references to his mythologies.

MORE NEWS:

• New Footage From The Dark Tower Shown At CinemaCon
• First The Dark Tower Poster Released
• Stephen King Discusses How He Came Up With The Idea Of Pennywise

[H/T Bloody Disgusting]