Amph The Dark Tower

Not sure how many Dark Tower fans use this site but for any out there there is some great news, Sony has given the film adaption a release date!!! January 13, 2017 (not too far away) Roland of Gilead is finally getting his due. Can't wait!

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/08/05/bad-boys-3-and-4-dark-tower-resident-evil-6-get-release-dates

Who do you want to see cast in the main roles?

 

I keep waiting for a 5000 page ominbus version of the novels to be printed by King before reading the series. But damn this movie has been in development forever.

 

I read the series 5-6 years ago, and am definitely looking forward to this.

I'm hoping they go all in and try to make a series out of it.

My big worry, though, is how much they'll have to cut the ties to King's other works; most notably 'Salem's Lot, The Stand and Hearts in Atlantis.
Chances are slim that any of the actors (James Cromwell, Anthony Hopkins, Jamie Sheridan) would reprise their roles, or that any reference would.
be made to their lives in the other stories. What worries me even more is the idea of replacing those characters with totally new ones. Though I don't
often get excited about yet another Stephen King remake, I wouldn't mind if they treated this like the Avengers of King adaptations just to show how
it's connected to his other works. And I seem to recall another version of The Stand being in development already....

Okay, what else is there to discuss here? A standalone adaptation of just the first book might be disappointing, as it doesn't really start to show you
what the story is about, or include the characters (Eddie, Susannah) who become so important. Does anyone anticipate them mashing the
first two together to get the series off to a running start? For that matter I wouldn't be surprised if they include part of the third just to get Jake
back in the picture before moving on.

For a while there was talk of having both a film and a television series, and I still haven't figured out how they'd divide the story to make that work.
Assuming that's still in the cards at all....

 

Do us a favour and sort your post out first.

 

This will definitely be a challenge of a franchise to successfully bring to the big screen. I hope they don't try and condense the first three into one film because there would so much lost but they would definitely need to introduce Eddie in the first film; so maybe the first two (can't remember if Suze came in at the end of the 2nd or 3rd). But if they focus too much on getting the audience familiar with Eddie in the first film I would be worried that it would deflate the impact of Jakes death. Leaving Jake's return for the 2nd film would be a nice surprise for non-readers.

I read in another of the articles regarding the slated release date that they are still talking about having a tv series run along side the films. Be interesting to see how they mesh that.

 

The Dark Tower series is one that I've put off reading for so long that I'm unlikely to start it now because it collectively looks like the Coruscant white pages, but I've been hearing about a film, mini-series or episodic TV series adaptation, for years now. For fans, I hope this time's the charm, but there have been so many starts and stops that I'll believe it when I see it.

For those who know the series and have been following this, what ha(ve)s the main sticking point been re: getting this adaptation made?

 

Is there balm in Gilead?

 

I read the first book and didn't much enjoy it, which is rare for me with King (I've read and loved 80% of his stuff.) I understand this series gets better/more involved with the sequels. I'm certainly on-board with a film series, as it will likely inspire me to read the source books. Color me intrigued.

 

"This will definitely be a challenge of a franchise to successfully bring to the big screen. I hope they don't try and condense the first three into one film because there would so much lost but they would definitely need to introduce Eddie in the first film; so maybe the first two (can't remember if Suze came in at the end of the 2nd or 3rd)."

Susannah. Is. First introduced. In. The. Second book. Sorry. Couldn't. Resist.

Combing three books into one film might be a bit much. But there would be a need to establish the entire Ka-Tet in the first film, I think. Even if they don't include Jake's return.
The first book is also rather short and episodic, so that's the one I expect will be crunched the most.

 

It's complexity, particularly regarding crossovers with King's other works as well as its connections to other franchises including Star Wars. i think Ron Howard's plan to have a tv series running alongside the film series seemed like too big a task for a lot of studios. Before Peter Jackson they used say Lord of the Rings would be an impossible novel series to adapt for the big screen; well The Dark Tower would probably make that triumph seem like a walk in the park. The Dark Tower would be a western, post apoc., fantasy, sci-fi, NY gangster, thriller film with some King Arthurian-esq medieval tones in there as well, if they stay somewhat true to the book. That's a weird freakin' mix lol.

 

Personally, the first book is my favorite of the series, but it is much different IMO than the rest of the series. It's pretty much like a Clint Eastwood western; where as the the rest of the novels in the series depart away from this western setting; if you like strange fantasy involving travel between 20th Century NYC and a post-apoc version of the world I would definitely recommend giving the rest of the series a shot!

 

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

Best first line ever. I read it when it first came out, didn't much care for the rest of the book and never read any more of them, but that one line has always stuck with me.

 

Now I feel compelled to read it just to find out why this gunslinger is chasing Johnny Cash across the desert .

 

Definitely don't finish the series then...

 

Matthew McConaughey circling the man in black or Roland role. Readers of the series, thoughts on this as a potential casting?

Personally I think he would be alright as the man in black, but really hope he doesn't decide he wants to be Roland, just not a stern enough, nor gruff enough kinda guy. But he's shown he can portray sleazier characters well so I could see him taking it a little further and add a dash of maniacal and embodying the villainous character well. Would obviously do a lot for attracting to it audiences with no knowledge of the series.

 

There's controversy about whether C.S. Lewis even wrote The Dark Tower. Seems like a strange choice for a movie. But I'm even more surprised that the work still has a fan base, given the marginal commercial success of the Narnia series, not to mention the authorship controversy and the time passed since the anthology was first published.

 

what

 

yeah, I know. Some people don't think C.S. Lewis actually wrote the Dark Tower, since of course it was published posthumously.

 

Haha, Jabba, you are master-class.

 

Idris Elba frontrunner for Deschain? I'm strangely okay with this....but if true, they better cast a white chick as Susannah to balance it all out

 

I like Elba as Roland. A lot. Better than McConaghey, IMO, and I happen to love McConaghey.

Elba's being cast would give new meaning to the epithet Man in Black.

 

Pardon?

Stephen King wrote it. First time I encountered the first book, it still had his Richard Baum(?) nom de plume, and I always, but accident or design, left a few years between the books. Think I got to book six or seven, then started seeing advice online not to finish the series, as the quality really drops off, so I have not risked it...

 

Jabba's just being a silly person. And Richard Bachman is the name you're looking for.

ALSO: No Dark Tower book was published under the Bachman alias.

 

Hogwash's first sentence was incorrect, but the next two were correct.

C+

 

Doggy, unlike the stylish and contemplative Jabbadaabodabbadobooeidoopoodoo, actually thinks Narnia and the Dark Tower series are the same thing.

D-