A movie version of Stephen King and Peter Straub's book "The Talisman" was planned many years earlier. Paperback editions published in 1985 bore the line "Soon to be a major Motion Picture" on the cover (the back cover of the UK edition said, "Soon To Be A Major Film")
Originally purchased by Universal in 1984 for Steven Spielberg to direct, Spielberg left the project in limbo for over a decade before work began anew on it.
Will Smith was set to be in the movie in late-1990s, but the production was halted and Smith went on to other films.
Part of a large web of interconnected stories written primarily by Stephen King. The book this film is based on is followed by 'Black House' and both books deal, in part, with King's "The Dark Tower" series.