Stephen King's The Dark Tower

Otis Driftwood

cable842 wrote: »

wow totally forgot there is a book of it how many books are there for Dark tower ?

I remember it came out with marvel a few years ago I just thought Stephen King wrote a few comic graphic novels

7 in total.Be warned though,they will take over your life.At least they did mine.

Johnny Bitte

took me months to complete these books. Some amazing stuff but have to agree the last few were rushed.

As for the adaption to film, it would never be as good as the books and I think the general population just wouldn't get it.

Although I would love to see it, I think they should leave it alone.

Pat Mustard

niallon wrote: »

+1, maybe it's Jonah Hex putting it in my head but he's the only decent Roland I can think of at the moment.

Also...this is gonna seem like a joke but...Richard Jenkins

Honestly, slap a wig on him and IMO he's a perfect Roland right down to the voice and everything. Fantastic actor to boot.

Josh Brolin. Hadn't thought of that - good option.

Richard Jenkins is a great actor, but I don't think he'd suit the Roland part. He has that whole benevolent authority figure thing, but without the ruthless side.

Kur4mA

HOLY ****! Are they really finally going to make this? If so, I'll go ****ing mental if they cock it up

A lot of people are getting too bogged down in choosing an actor who resembles Roland as he is depicted in the book. I would rather a competant actor who looked slightly similiar rather than one who looks like Roland but can't act. I could see Howard getting his good friend Tom Hanks to play Roland which tbh is a thought that sees me waking in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

Outkast_IRE

Deleted User wrote: »

A lot of people are getting too bogged down in choosing an actor who resembles Roland as he is depicted in the book. I would rather a competant actor who looked slightly similiar rather than one who looks like Roland but can't act. I could see Howard getting his good friend Tom Hanks to play Roland which tbh is a thought that sees me waking in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

Jesus give the man some credit as a director he wouldnt cast tom hanks in that role , go onto IMDB check up the movies hes directed and produced and you will be pleasently surprised that most are very well made, well cast, solid movies with a few exceptions ......
And most would see viggo morentsen as a highly capable actor with the right look for such a role , they would be mad not to approach him early and try to get him on board.

Outkast_IRE

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Jesus give the man some credit as a director he wouldnt cast tom hanks in that role , go onto IMDB check up the movies hes directed and produced and you will be pleasently surprised that most are very well made, well cast, solid movies with a few exceptions ......

Actually if you look at his CV you will find a number of mediocre films which seem tailor made to attract Oscar attention. Howard is a talented film maker but he os the last person I would like to see tackle the Dark Tower, the source material is far too dark for a director who specialises in bright and fluffy.

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

]And most would see viggo morentsen as a highly capable actor with the right look for such a role , they would be mad not to approach him early and try to get him on board.

I think he's a superb actor and would love to see him in the role but at the end of the day the Dark Tower is being seen as a franchise which the studio will want an A list actor to topline. If it came down to an actor such as Tom Cruise or Viggo the studio will see dollars signs attached to Crusie and go for him.

indough

i dont think howard has on average a poor record but the problem is his latest films have been cack, which means on current form this movie is also likely to be a bit meh

there are more suitable directors out there imo, better suited to this material i mean

jaykhunter

I haven't read them but my friend says they're absolutely amazing. 7 books though, if adapted; can it be properly condensed into a trilogy? Is there a story ark between the 7 or is it separate like (eg) Silent Hill?

genericguy

jaykhunter wrote: »

I haven't read them but my friend says they're absolutely amazing. 7 books though, if adapted; can it be properly condensed into a trilogy? Is there a story ark between the 7 or is it separate like (eg) Silent Hill?

imo this won't work as a film, it's just too big. there're 7 books, the last three are fcuking terrible but the first few are great.

norrie rugger

niallon wrote: »

Apart from Batman & Robin I wouldn't entirely say Akiva Goldsman is lame. For the most part, he's written good scripts that have been executed terribly. With The Dark Tower series he has great source material to work with too. However, Ron Howard will destroy this. There's no way in hell he can properly capture the gritty feel and epic scope of the novels.

As for an eight novel, would King please let The Dark Tower die? He already made the perfect ending, a filler novel for the mid section of the story with only damage this achievement.

Excue me?

It is a fawking terrible cop out of an ending!

from a 3 year old post, of mine

norrie rugger wrote: »

King's the Dark Tower series

All because of the crappy "I can not think of a real ending" ending.

I'm sorry but taping on a crappy ending, knowing it and telling people two pages to go not to read it as you may be disappointed is total tripe.
I mean you read 7 (yes SEVEN) books and he says to not read the ending as it may be considered crap.

He even has the nerve to say and i paraphrase "don't go further in this book, as you may not like the ending. instead try to imagine that he gets everything that he wants and lives happily ever after with all his friends"

I'm sorry King but I bought those books so that you could tell me the story.
If I wanted to imagine the ending why would i bother buying books at all?
And if i COULD imagine an ending and story, then i would be writing books myself

Also the fact that he ties it in with nearly every other book he has ever written screws them up also, especially The Talisman and The Black House

End rant

Ann22

I thought it was a very clever ending though I was disappointed

mainly because I like a happy one

I don't think King would have to struggle too much to come up with an ending.

Antar Bolaeisk

This is the worst news ever

If someone like JJ Abrahms, who's specialty seems to lie with the convoluted and mystical, feels these books are unfilmable then I'm inclined to go with his opinion.

There's also the fact that there have only been two good Steven King adaptations and one of them strayed a good bit from the source material.

As for the ending of Dark Tower, I'm afraid I can no longer remeber it clearly other than I thouroughly enjoyed every minute of it and in fact I am heavily considering re-reading there series now!

liah

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

There's also the fact that there have only been two good Steven King adaptations and one of them strayed a good bit from the source material.

Which?

Carrie? The Green Mile? The Mist? Stand By Me? The Shawshank Redemption? The Shining?

King's behind an awful lot of classics, to say there's only been "two good Stephen King" adaptations is bollocks.

And that doesn't even count some other stuff like IT, Pet Sematary, Dolores Claiborne, Misery, Cujo, 1408, etc. which is arguable in its quality but still wholly enjoyable and definitely well-known, at least.

I wouldn't write something off because it's King. King gives filmmakers a lot of potential, but the majority of them don't have a clue how to translate his writing to the big screen. Too much gets lost; King's talent is in his character development rather than the plotlines themselves and filmmakers don't really "get" that, as a rule.

tman

liah wrote: »

Which?

Carrie? The Green Mile? The Mist? Stand By Me? The Shawshank Redemption? The Shining?

They clearly meant the running man...

LittleBook

Deleted User wrote: »

Actually if you look at his CV you will find a number of mediocre films which seem tailor made to attract Oscar attention. Howard is a talented film maker but he os the last person I would like to see tackle the Dark Tower, the source material is far too dark for a director who specialises in bright and fluffy.

So true, a couple of gems and a lot of dross. It's not that he's a particularly bad director, it's that there are others out there who would IMHO be better suited to working with the material ... Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, John Hillcoat or maybe mentalists like Gilliam or Jeunet.

norrie rugger wrote: »

It is a fawking terrible cop out of an ending!

:pac: As much as I love King I've often felt he simply couldn't figure out how to finish a novel. I'm struggling to think of one that didn't end with an over the top BOOM (quite literally sometimes) or tapers out in a leave-it-to-the-reader's-imagination kind of thing.

Antar Bolaeisk

liah wrote: »

Which?

Carrie? The Green Mile? The Mist? Stand By Me? The Shawshank Redemption? The Shining?

King's behind an awful lot of classics, to say there's only been "two good Stephen King" adaptations is bollocks.

And that doesn't even count some other stuff like IT, Pet Sematary, Dolores Claiborne, Misery, Cujo, 1408, etc. which is arguable in its quality but still wholly enjoyable and definitely well-known, at least.

I wouldn't write something off because it's King. King gives filmmakers a lot of potential, but the majority of them don't have a clue how to translate his writing to the big screen. Too much gets lost; King's talent is in his character development rather than the plotlines themselves and filmmakers don't really "get" that, as a rule.

Okay sorry, only two that I liked though in fairness I haven't seen Stand by Me.

thebullkf

[QUOTE=LittleBook;65767265]So true, a couple of gems and a lot of dross. It's not that he's a particularly bad director, it's that there are others out there who would IMHO be better suited to working with the material ... Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, John Hillcoat or maybe mentalists like Gilliam or Jeunet.


has abrams pulled out???

he bought the rights for 19 dollars(as you all know 19 plays a major significance in the books).
FFS.!

Defo not looking forward to Howards vision of TDT.:rolleyes:


Here's my pick.

DIRECTOR:

Guillermo Del Toro.

{For Pan's Labyrinth/Cronos specifically}


OR


Tim Burton {at his best}




ROLAND:
.....hhmmmmmmm...


Dunno.

need someone with a thouand yard stare (laws yes)

Someone that has experience carved into their face like a map...

Jim Caviezel (maybe)

Ed Norton?

Christian Bale?-{thankee sai)


MAN IN BLACK.

Gabriel Byrne.

{also as he appears @ different stages in the book i'd say

max von sydow-Ian McKellan et al}

EDDIE DEAN.

hhmmmm.......


casey affleck/norton/sam rockwell


ODETTA


Angela Bassett(when she was younger)

or

Rutina Wesley ????



tough one to call i have to say.....




:pac: As much as I love King I've often felt he simply couldn't figure out how to finish a novel. I'm struggling to think of one that didn't end with an over the top BOOM (quite literally sometimes) or tapers out in a leave-it-to-the-reader's-imagination kind of thing.[/QUOTE]

+1000.

Mickeroo

Here's an article with some details on how the series is going to pan out. I've not read any the books yet but plan to stat before the films/tv shows get made.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46438

tman

Mickeroo wrote: »

I've not read any the books yet but plan to stat before the films/tv shows get made.[/url]

Me too after reading

Roland’s world featured shoot-outs, raping demons, killer sentient trains, the murder of children, mutants, magic, alternate dimensions, a giant cyborg bear and lobster monsters.

:eek:

Kur4mA

Yeah read the books and then weep if this goes ahead folks. Ron Howard is not the man for the job here. The Dark Tower cannot be a PG film that's safe for the kiddies, but Ron is gonna go ahead and ruin it regardless.

filmfan

It's so hard to capture his true horror novels with the level of terror and suspense that you feel when reading the books. Unfortunately, the most successful adaptions are ones that only touch on the supernatural. It's a pity, but your own imagination is always scarier:)

cadea

Can't believe only one other poster picked up on this, but if Ron Howard is involved and the TV part is NBC and not HBO/Showtime there is no way any justice can be done to the series. A PG-13 Dark Tower will be unwatchable.

me-skywalker

Lu Tze wrote: »

Book 8, what!? Scratch that, just clicked on the link.

I could only ever have imagined Clint Eastwood (in the dirty harry era) playing Roland though, so no sure how enthused i would be about a film, struggling to think of who would suit now?

Viggo Mortensen would be cool for me. Mabe Christian Bale can get himself into another Trilogy. Please not Hugh Jackman though...

Dohnny Jepp

Christain Bale has two voices. Sex phone operator, and creepy sex phone operator.

Roland isnt a sex phone operator:P

willonzo

ATTN: Ron Howard
RE: Casting notes, Dark Tower series

Russel Crowe IS Roland (except he won't do TV work, have to replace him with Sawyer from Lost, explain this with some sci-fi regeneration gobbledegook.)
Val Kilmer IS Blaine the Mono (his work on the new Knight Rider is going down a storm) (and he evidently WILL do TV work)
The villian from the Saw movies IS Walter O'Dim (the human, not the puppet, he was also okay on Lost)
Reincarnated River Phoenix IS Eddie Dean (No, we will not accept Joaquin Phoenix as a substitute.)
Justin Bieber IS Jake Chambers (think of the crossover appeal, tweens have never been big King fans. Until now!!!)
The girl from Precious Based on the Novel Push by Saphire IS Susannah Dean (She is so hot right now. Also, the pregnancy thing will resonate.)
Anne Coulter IS Rea the hag. (No further comment required.)
The dog from Frasier IS Oy.

Token serious suggestion: Sam Elliot has to be Stephen Deschain, Roland's da. Either him or Clint. Or Scott Glenn, though he may be better as Eldred from book 4.

housemap

is the dark tower better than the stand ?

Zapp Brannigan

Viggo has to be Roland, he just has that weather-beaten, worn-down look about him. Plus you know he'd put in an amazing performance.

Russell Crowe? Roland fights with guns, not with his fists!

Dohnny Jepp

housemap wrote: »

is the dark tower better than the stand ?

Probably more epic, yet very different. I rather it to the stand, many don't.

Skerries

willonzo wrote: »

The girl from Precious Based on the Novel Push by Saphire IS Susannah Dean (She is so hot right now. Also, the pregnancy thing will resonate.)

bagsy not me for pushing her wheelchair!