Dark Tower Movies AND TV Series

[Torture]

Sounds epic, hopefully they do the series justice.

As reported back in April (http://tv.ign.com/articles/108/1087032p1.html), the team behind A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code -- Ron Howard (http://stars.ign.com/objects/912/912891.html), Akiva Goldsman (http://stars.ign.com/objects/911/911094.html) and Brian Grazer (http://stars.ign.com/objects/910/910685.html) -- are behind the adaptation, but it is only now being 100% confirmed that the rumored TV series is part of the deal. http://tv.ign.com/articles/111/1119037p1.html

[HPLovecraft]

Man, good luck adapting that series into a movie. I'd much rather they stuck with only making it a TV series. I think it's best fitted for that.

Edit: Ah, after reading the article more, it makes sense, even if it's highly unusual. They're using the TV series to bridge the movies.

[Flames0910]

Mixed feelings on this...

A Beautiful Mind - good.

Da Vinci Code? bleh.

Really wish it was J.J. Abrams and Lindeloff

[Hack&Lube]

It won't work as a movie unless it's like 3x the length of the Lord of the Rings.

As a TV series, it would be too "out there" to get the ratings it deserves from the general populace and hard to follow week after week.

[Antithesis]

Not to thrilled that the guy who gave us Batman and Robin (Goldman) is involved in this. I guess King must have given his OK, but ... I see difficulties ahead.

[Red Potato Standing By]

Yeah the problem being they waited till clint eastwood was to old..grrrrr

[flylock shox]

Seems a long time in the making.

I'll check this series out, but can't say I'm optimistic. A lot of King's work is amazing, but the Dark Tower series... not so much IMO.

Mind you, I only read about the first half of book 1 before giving up on it.

[Flames0910]

Seems a long time in the making.

I'll check this series out, but can't say I'm optimistic. A lot of King's work is amazing, but the Dark Tower series... not so much IMO.

Mind you, I only read about the first half of book 1 before giving up on it.

That's like, .25/7 -_-

[flylock shox]

That's like, .25/7 -_-

I know. But it was as far as I felt I could get without some of the same drugs I reckoned he must have been taking when he was writing it. Hopefully the series/movies is a bit more... coherent.

[Antithesis]

Seems a long time in the making.

I'll check this series out, but can't say I'm optimistic. A lot of King's work is amazing, but the Dark Tower series... not so much IMO.

Mind you, I only read about the first half of book 1 before giving up on it.

You're judging a series of books by reading the first half of the first book of seven, which also happens to be the shortest of all the books? You're judging it on approximately 5% of the total material. I know they aren't for everyone, but you've not even given them a fair shot :ph34r:

King has repeatedly said that the first book (especially the 'original', unrevised one) is the hardest to read and get in to. If you are a fan of King, I'd suggest giving it another try; the Dark Tower series are some of my most beloved books.

I was happier when Abrams/Lindelof were attached, however, I am willing to give this a chance. I have no idea who they'll cast to play Roland though I admit I could see it being Christian Bale, and I don't know what to think of that.

[Flames0910]

I actually thought the first book was the best. There was a clear goal - make it across the dessert, catch the man in black and it really set the scene (dystopic universe) and told you everything you needed to know about the characters. I know it wasn't King's favourite and he went back and did a bunch of edit's but I don't mind the rawness of it. The later books seemed to drag a bit (okay, a lot) whereas I found the first moving forward at a good clip.

And that first line. Oh that first line. All the books are captured in that single line. It's one of King's favourites too :)

You really should give it a second chance. Unless you don't like weird as hell. But if you didn't like weird then I doubt you'd be a King fan.

[Antithesis]

I agree, that is one of the best opening lines from a novel I have read. I think that many people have issues with the first book because it has a really bizarre narrative structure:

Roland is walking through the desert, where he remembers meeting Brown, at which time, he told his story of his time in Tull, so instead of moving forwards, the narrative moves backwards for a while before catching up, and then moving forward again.

[Top Shelf]

Yeah the problem being they waited till clint eastwood was to old..grrrrr

Man he would have been the perfect Roland!

[icecube]

Viggo Mortensen?

[Flames0910]

Viggo Mortensen?


Probably depends on how they feel about the LotR comparison. He would be a good pick though.

[Bigtime]

Very interesting news, as this rumour first came around a couple of months ago. I'm about halfway through book 7 right now.

I would love to see this series get the royal treatment in its adaptation, but lets face it, some of the stuff is just so hard to transfer to Film/TV (especially TV depending on the network it is on).

[FireFly]

I think my favorite was Wizard and Glass but I loved the whole series as well. I am definitely looking forward to watching this but first I think I should re-read it all.

[Bigtime]

The Wastelands could be all sorts of awesome in movie form:

Shardik the bear. Coming down from the mountains to River Crossing, and then the ruined city of Lud, capping it all off with a supersonic monorail ride with a demented machine as its brain.

However Wizard & Glass has the awesome story with Roland & Co. kicking ass and taking names in Meijis.

[Finny61]

A younger Eastwood would have been perfect, I think Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex) would portray a good Roland.

[CaptainCrunch]

Casting call

Looking for a rugged actor who can pull off a mystical battered obsessed cowboy look. Must be proficient in the use of antique revolvers and be missing several fingers.

Also looking for a legless blackwoman, must be able to play multiple personalities.

We also require a young white male actor between the age of 11 and 14, must be able to catch a bus with his teeth.

[Bigtime]

Casting call

Looking for a rugged actor who can pull off a mystical battered obsessed cowboy look. Must be proficient in the use of antique revolvers and be missing several fingers.

Also looking for a legless blackwoman, must be able to play multiple personalities.

We also require a young white male actor between the age of 11 and 14, must be able to catch a bus with his teeth.

Also:

-A Red Panda that can imitate human words. (I've always picture Oy like that)

[CaptainCrunch]

I always pictured Oy as a duck billed platypus mself.

Or a badger lookin thing with orange hair.

[CaptainCrunch]

I still consider the opening line to the first book to be one of the classical opening book lines

''The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.''

of course the best is still

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Or the snoopy opening

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out! A door slammed. The maid screamed. Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon! While millions of people were starving, the king lived in luxury. Meanwhile, on a small farm in Kansas, a boy was growing up. Part 2: A light snow was falling, and the little girl with the tattered shawl had not sold a violet all day. At that very moment, a young intern at City Hospital was making an important discovery.

[Jimdon]

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/110127/Javier-Bardem-Dark-Tower_320.jpg

Director Ron Howard wants Javier Bardem to play troubled hero Roland Deschain in his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. Imagine Entertainment confirms the news first reported by Deadline that the No Country For Old Men star has been offered the lead role in the horror-fantasy-western adaptation, which is currently planned as a big-screen trilogy along with a TV series. (Busy week for Bardem — first he was nominated for an Oscar, then his beautiful wife gave birth to a genetically perfect child, and now this.) The Dark Tower series comprises seven books and forms the connective material between much of King’s work, so there has been much anticipation for the film/TV series. (Early rumors had indicated that fan favorite Viggo Mortensen was also in the running.) The first Dark Tower film is currently scheduled for summer 2013.

[CaptainCrunch]

To me Roland is really a young clint eastwood, of course without some fingers.

If I was casting roles.

Roland - Timothy Oliphant
Susannah Dean - That voodoo chick from Pirates of the Carribean
Jake Chambers - I have no idea
Eddie Dean - Edward Furlong, or even Gordon Leavitt
Randall Flagg - Adam Baldwin

[Pacem]

I was hoping they'd never makek this book into a movie. In my mind there is no way they could pull it off.

Easily my favourite books of all time. I'm in the process of collecting first editions of each book. Dont' have Wizard and Glass but there are alot out there so i'll get it eventually. I'm also mising the 1st one, of course. I think I will have to settle for the 2nd edition that I purchased for that book, same cover and what not but just not a first. Really hard to justify spending $1000 or more on a book.

[MrMastodonFarm]

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/javier-bardem-officially-signs-on-to-the-dark-tower?ns_campaign=news&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=totalfilm&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+totalfilm%2Fimdbnews+%28Total +Film+IMDb+aggregate%29
Javier Bardem has officially signed on to star as Roland Deschain in Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, surprising literally nobody.

Read more: Javier Bardem officially signs on to The Dark Tower | TotalFilm.com

[Hack&Lube]

I don't like this casting.

http://www.nndb.com/people/733/000109406/javier-bardem.jpg

I still haven't moved onto the 4th book in the series. King kind of banged out the last couple of books when he was worried about dying a few years ago. Don't need any spoilers but did you guys enjoy the last half of the saga? Should I go read it?

[dissentowner]

I don't like this casting.

http://www.nndb.com/people/733/000109406/javier-bardem.jpg

I still haven't moved onto the 4th book in the series. King kind of banged out the last couple of books when he was worried about dying a few years ago. Don't need any spoilers but did you guys enjoy the last half of the saga? Should I go read it?

The ending imo was...:poo:

[Bigtime]

I think you should finish the series, I was kind of let down by the ending but was still very happy to read it right to the end.

[CaptainCrunch]

I don't like this casting.

http://www.nndb.com/people/733/000109406/javier-bardem.jpg

I still haven't moved onto the 4th book in the series. King kind of banged out the last couple of books when he was worried about dying a few years ago. Don't need any spoilers but did you guys enjoy the last half of the saga? Should I go read it?


Ug thats not how I saw him at all.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Ug thats not how I saw him at all.

I'm not familiar at all with the Dark Tower, I mean, I know about it, but I haven't read it... I just saw the news, and wanted to post it here for the fine folks at CP.

That being said... I hate playing the "this actor looks wrong for the role" thing. I've done it before, and it's stupid. A really good actor, and Barden is, can become the role, and shouldn't be judged from a funny picture from No Country for Old men.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Mixed feelings on this...

A Beautiful Mind - good.

Da Vinci Code? bleh.

Really wish it was J.J. Abrams and Lindeloff

Ron Howard as done a hell of a lot of better things then JJ Abrams and Lindeloff.

[GreenLantern]

Never read these books, any comparisons to Martins ASOFAI?

[TSXCman]

I really enjoyed Marvell comics Dark Tower comic/illustrated books that they made, extremely entertaining visually.

King's writing puts me to sleep though, have never been able to complete a single book before. I just get tired of the easy reading and find myself forced to quit. Personal preference of writing style though and I am aware that I am in the minority.

From what I could get of the story from the comics, the first couple chapters of the book, and from family talking about it, I think a movie or tv show would be very exciting.

[CaptainCrunch]

I really enjoyed Marvell comics Dark Tower comic/illustrated books that they made, extremely entertaining visually.

King's writing puts me to sleep though, have never been able to complete a single book before. I just get tired of the easy reading and find myself forced to quit. Personal preference of writing style though and I am aware that I am in the minority.

From what I could get of the story from the comics, the first couple chapters of the book, and from family talking about it, I think a movie or tv show would be very exciting.

I like his writing style, but the guys never been able to pull off a good ending.

He ruined IT which was an amazing concept with a really lame ending.

He ruined The Stand with the whole hand of god thing, which was too bad because the stand was one of my favorite books growing up.

He positively stunk out the joint with the ending on Needfull things.

In fact its funny, because he's a far better short story writer then he is a novelist especially with stories like Getting it on and the Long Walk under the Bachman name.

[MickMcGeough]

I don't like this casting.

http://www.nndb.com/people/733/000109406/javier-bardem.jpg

I still haven't moved onto the 4th book in the series. King kind of banged out the last couple of books when he was worried about dying a few years ago. Don't need any spoilers but did you guys enjoy the last half of the saga? Should I go read it?
Wizard & Glass (the 4th book) might be the best in the series after the first one.

I won't say I enjoyed the last 3 as much as the first 4, but you should absolutely finish the series.

[MickMcGeough]

Also, count me as cautiously optimistic about Javier Bardem as Roland. Not perfect, but it could have been a lot worse.

[Ark2]

I really enjoyed Marvell comics Dark Tower comic/illustrated books that they made, extremely entertaining visually.

King's writing puts me to sleep though, have never been able to complete a single book before. I just get tired of the easy reading and find myself forced to quit. Personal preference of writing style though and I am aware that I am in the minority.

From what I could get of the story from the comics, the first couple chapters of the book, and from family talking about it, I think a movie or tv show would be very exciting.

Try reading Cormac McCarthy if you want a more difficult author. The guy is a great writer but holy hell is his stuff hard to read.

[TSXCman]

Try reading Cormac McCarthy if you want a more difficult author. The guy is a great writer but holy hell is his stuff hard to read.

I'm not seeking a level of difficulty, but I find that King just shakes me off very quickly.

I've enjoyed biographies, science fiction, very entertained earlier by Peirs Anthony for his crazy world, and Terry Goodkind is a favorite for the sword of truth series (minus the last couple books).

King, Clancy, and other airport novels just give the sense of a rushed product.

But I do like King's movies. Growing up, my family and I stayed up waiting for that 5 part The Stand showing on TV and was very drawn into it, but I did not enjoy the books still.

So i think he has good stories but I do not want to read them to enjoy them.

[Bigtime]

Wizard & Glass (the 4th book) might be the best in the series after the first one.

I won't say I enjoyed the last 3 as much as the first 4, but you should absolutely finish the series.

I'm with you, I loved the 1st and 4th book. Will probably make a point of reading them again sooner rather than later. I really hope one of the movies is just Wizard & Glass. Gunslinger goodness. :cool:

[MrMastodonFarm]

Cancelled...

http://cliqueclack.com/tv/2011/07/21/dark-tower-tv-show/

If you didn’t catch the news, word came down earlier this week that Universal dropped the forever-in-development film adaptation of Stephen King’s enormous Dark Tower series. With Ron Howard at the helm, the news came as a bit of a surprise. In all honesty, though, it was only a bit of a surprise. The series is huge, spanning seven novels (and an eighth follow up in the works). I’m not sure how it ever could have been translated to the big screen, even with a talent like Ron Howard directing.

[3 Justin 3]

I read they are going to other studios right now (Howard and Co.) to see if another studio will finance it.

[CaptainCrunch]

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/3/7/129124765852451191.jpg

[Bigtime]

This thing is still out there:

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/stephen-kings-the-dark-tower-headed-hbo-producer-brian-grazer/

Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' Headed to HBO According to Producer Brian Grazer

Yesterday the Internet began buzzing from an interview snippet with producer Brian Grazer discussing the stalled production of The Dark Tower (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/movie/dark-tower/), a multi-platform adaptation of Stephen King's seven-part fantasy western epic.

The project was originally planned as three films with Universal Pictures with a television series expected to fill in the gaps in-between the films as there was simply too much material in King's book to satisfy only a trilogy of films and it sounds like they aren't deviating from those plans, but where the films and TV shows will be housed remains up in the air.

The project, as it was presented, fell apart when Universal passed (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/the-dark-tower-collapses-universal-studio-step-save-it/) back in July '11, though Grazer has always remained optimistic (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/stephen-kings-the-dark-tower-leaning-fallen/) saying attached director Ron Howard was "trying to get outside financing to make it, and distribute it through a major studio." Well, it seems there is some movement on that front.

First off, Grazer was quoted by The Playlist (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/the_dark_tower_down_to_single_movie_budget_current ly_set_at_or_below_100_mi/) saying, "We found a way to cut $45 million out of the budget without changing the scope and actually giving it a good ending… In the $140 million draft, the ending wasn't quite as satisfying. Now, we've got $45 million, $50 million out of the way and a really satisfying ending. It's gonna get made."

Okay, so it's going to get made and on a $90-95 million budget, and I have to assume he's referring to the first film in this case, but where will it get made?

In speaking with MTV (http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/10/25/dark-tower-hbo-brian-grazer/) he says, "We're going to do that movie… We'll do the TV with HBO and the movie… to be determined." Grazer's pause before "to be determined" leads me to believe there is a leading candidate for the feature film portion of the project but he didn't want to say too much, but he is clearly confident in HBO and also says he believes they'll be able to maintain Javier Bardem as the story's lead character, the gunslinger Roland Deschain.

You can watch the video with Grazer below where he also briefly mentions the potential "Arrested Development" film.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Slight update, Russel Crowe on board and Javier Barden out?

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/warner-bros-has-dark-tower-decision-looming-and-russell-crowe-is-in-the-mix/

[Hack&Lube]

That makes more sense. For this thing to really draw the general audience to make it worth it's budget and immense scope, you need some star power draw.

While Eastwood in his prime immediately comes to mind as the archetype of this role, Crowe fits too if you think about the majority of the books as being the story of a middle aged knightly gunslinger that has seen better days (living in a world that has seen better days too).

[sureLoss]

Looks like its Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba

Stephen King @StephenKing
It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @idriselba

[kermitology]

Based on Elba's tweet, I figure he's the gunslinger and McConaughey is the man in black.

https://twitter.com/idriselba/status/704679302781083648

.@McConaughey you have one new follower. #DarkTowerMovie https://twitter.com/stephenking/status/704674793145159680

[Harry Lime]

The revival of the Dark Tower wasn't at all hurt by the development of the Stand and potentially other movies in the King Universe. Likewise the development of 'universes' as a whole are the biggest thing in hollywood at the moment.

McConaughey was first linked to Flagg in the Stand, and there is a real possibility that he is looking at this as a longterm project.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1648190/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast (current crew list)

Aaron Paul is also rumoured to be circling Eddy.

I'm not a fan of Goldsman at all, and his current work on all of the horrible Transformers movies is a testament to his quality, but Grazer and Howard are solid (and I hope not too family friendly). It's interesting that they brought in two 'artsy' guys as writer and director. That could be a good sign.

[CofR]

I am so excited for this! For anyone who hasn't read the books I highly recommend them

[To Be Quite Honest]

I never read the books. It doesn't look like a horror, but more like a futuristic dystopia... Which would be a horror to experience... ;)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[burnin_vernon]

I started reading The Dark Tower while on vacation last week. I'm about 70% finished but I'm not completely into it yet. The parts that I do like, I really like, but so far it feels a little slow. Does it pick up or is the first half of the book a strong indication of the series?

[JiriHrdina]

Each book is quite different. I don't know how I would describe the whole series.

[MrMastodonFarm]

https://i.redd.it/1251wp2b989x.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/H6KUAgn.jpg

[Hack&Lube]

Hmm not a fan of this art direction. He looks like a magician or strolling on the set of Doctor Who.

I guess I always envisioned something very different from the books. Sort of a romantic fallen empire and a bizarre wild west frontier.

There's a girl with leopard print heels and another with white sneakers :(

[zamler]

Idris Elba looks badass but why is M. McConaughey doing his best blue steel impression.

[GGG]

Hmm not a fan of this art direction. He looks like a magician or strolling on the set of Doctor Who.

I guess I always envisioned something very different from the books. Sort of a romantic fallen empire and a bizarre wild west frontier.

There's a girl with leopard print heels and another with white sneakers :(

I always envisioned combination of run down Wild West like unforgiven combined with a GOT type fuedal world where the gunslinger grew up combined with a steam punk style dystopia.

So that first picture is pretty close for me