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Stephen King's The Dark Tower (1 Viewer)

KGB

KGB

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

Trilogy of movies AND a TV series to cover it all.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/The-Dark-To...Life-20554.html

Step 1: They’ll kick it off with a movie, presumably the movie will tell the story of the first book, The Gunslinger which is a shorter book and extremely cinematic. They could also maybe fit in The Drawing of the Three in which the Gunslinger Roland meets his companions.

Step 2: That movie will be immediately followed by a TV series which will pick up where the movie leaves off. A TV series is the ideal format to tackle some of the longer, more episodic stories.

Step 3: The TV series will then lead into a second feature film.

Step 4: After that second feature film, a TV series will then cover the events of the book Wizard and Glass in which the story of Roland’s youth is retold.

Step 5: That will then launch into a third feature film… perhaps to wrap the story up or maybe simply to take the next step. Whether they end it there or plan more movies and more television presumably depends on audience response.

 
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Very cool.

So Cuse and Lindeloff (from Lost) are not involved in this I take it (as was once rumored)?

 
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Very interesting. The first book (which is actually 5 separate short stories) is the shortest in the series, but the hardest to read. However, it may make an extraordinary film. The second book is probably my favorite in the whole series but would be difficult to film, because so much goes on in the minds of the characters. After that it's pretty cinematic.

 
Can someone provide a short synopsis? I realize its a large work, but I know people who LOVE the trilogy, but I never found the desire to read it. :lmao:

 
lombardi said:
If Clint wasn't 178 years old he may have been a great Roland.
Click to expand...
It's who I pictured in my head as I read the books, and probably most others. Bad timing. If they are going to do 3 movies and a TV series, it's going to have to be an unknown IMO
 
Just put in for the first four graphic novels at the library. I read the first book a while ago and it felt really discombobulated.

 
As excited as I am to finally see this getting made I'm not getting my hopes up unless it gets shown on the SyFy channel. Not that it guarantees anything but it's got a better chance of staying true to the source material.

 
First and Fourth books were the best, second book comes in a close third.

I loved the very ending of the last book. I wont give anything away but a lot of people hated it, I thought it was perfect. Considering how far he had gone it was a decent last book but I was very let down by how easily and quickly one of my favorite Stephen King characters of all time was dispatched.

I wonder if in the series they'll pull in from all the other books that had pieces of the DT, but weren't officially Dark Tower books.

You know who would make a good gunslinger... the guy who played malcolm reynolds in Firefly. His character was a lot like Roland. Very tough, but sensitivity when needed, wry and sick sense of humor. He could do a great job and he is young enough to stick with it for years.

Come to think of it we can bring back the whole cast. Chloe can play Suzannah and Walsh can play Eddie.

 
cstu said:
As excited as I am to finally see this getting made I'm not getting my hopes up unless it gets shown on the SyFy channel. Not that it guarantees anything but it's got a better chance of staying true to the source material.
Click to expand...
SYFY is one of the options as Universal owns them
 
lombardi said:
If Clint wasn't 178 years old he may have been a great Roland.
Click to expand...
Considering that he was one of King's inspiration for the character, definitely.For name actors, Viggo Mortensen is 'grizzled' enough to play it well.
lombardi said:
You know who would make a good gunslinger... the guy who played malcolm reynolds in Firefly. His character was a lot like Roland. Very tough, but sensitivity when needed, wry and sick sense of humor. He could do a great job and he is young enough to stick with it for years.
Click to expand...
I think Nathan Fillon is a little too 'pretty boy' to play the role, but I would definitely not mind it if he was cast.
 
lombardi said:
First and Fourth books were the best, second book comes in a close third.I loved the very ending of the last book. I wont give anything away but a lot of people hated it, I thought it was perfect. I wonder if in the series they'll pull in from all the other books that had pieces of the DT, but weren't officially Dark Tower books.You know who would make a good gunslinger... the guy who played malcolm reynolds in Firefly. His character was a lot like Roland. Very tough, but sensitivity when needed, wry and sick sense of humor. He could do a great job and he is young enough to stick with it for years.Come to think of it we can bring back the whole cast. Chloe can play Suzannah and Walsh can play Eddie.
Click to expand...
You should probably edit out the sentence I did.
 
I don't read much but I absolutely loved this series. The only King books I read and liked. Don't remember what each book was about but remember enjoying most of the books.

I think Brolin may be able to pull it off.

 
Please God... make this come out more like Misery or The Shining and less like IT or Needful Things.

 
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.

 
timschochet said:
Very interesting. The first book (which is actually 5 separate short stories) is the shortest in the series, but the hardest to read. However, it may make an extraordinary film. The second book is probably my favorite in the whole series but would be difficult to film, because so much goes on in the minds of the characters. After that it's pretty cinematic.
Click to expand...
Wizard and the Glass was absolutely brutal for me. I stopped reading the series about 1/3 of the way through this book.
 
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time. In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
The only standard cable network I think this would work on is FX. I am hope they use Wizard and Glass as one of the TV Series seasons. I think that book would translate to a series very easily and it does not contain as much "mature" content.
 
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
TV isn't what is was 20 years ago, they could get away with a lot these days on any cable network. The thing is, to keep this from being a multibillion dollar project, they are going to have to film EVERYTHING at once. Think of the time spent on Lord of the Rings and times that by about 3. No "A" list stars are going to take on a 5-7 year project so I think its safe to rule out Viggo and Brolin.There has to be some pretty deep pockets behind this that want to make this happen, this is probably going to be the largest financial risk in film history.

 
hooter311 said:
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
TV isn't what is was 20 years ago, they could get away with a lot these days on any cable network. The thing is, to keep this from being a multibillion dollar project, they are going to have to film EVERYTHING at once. Think of the time spent on Lord of the Rings and times that by about 3. No "A" list stars are going to take on a 5-7 year project so I think its safe to rule out Viggo and Brolin.There has to be some pretty deep pockets behind this that want to make this happen, this is probably going to be the largest financial risk in film history.
Click to expand...
What about Titanic and Avatar?
 
The more I think about it, the more I think "The Drawing of the Three", by far my favorite of the books, is going to translate horribly to either movie of television show. The doors, the lobstrocities, the way Roland enters peoples minds, and especially the schizophrenic presentation of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker could lead to a lot of outright mockery, the way Atlas Shrugged surely will. Some works are simply better off not filmed, and this may be one of them.

 
timschochet said:
The more I think about it, the more I think "The Drawing of the Three", by far my favorite of the books, is going to translate horribly to either movie of television show. The doors, the lobstrocities, the way Roland enters peoples minds, and especially the schizophrenic presentation of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker could lead to a lot of outright mockery, the way Atlas Shrugged surely will. Some works are simply better off not filmed, and this may be one of them.
Click to expand...
Really? How hard would it be to do any of these things? Have you seen any movies from the last 20 years?
 
playin4beer said:
hooter311 said:
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
TV isn't what is was 20 years ago, they could get away with a lot these days on any cable network. The thing is, to keep this from being a multibillion dollar project, they are going to have to film EVERYTHING at once. Think of the time spent on Lord of the Rings and times that by about 3. No "A" list stars are going to take on a 5-7 year project so I think its safe to rule out Viggo and Brolin.There has to be some pretty deep pockets behind this that want to make this happen, this is probably going to be the largest financial risk in film history.
Click to expand...
What about Titanic and Avatar?
Click to expand...
Seriously? This is going to require the commitment of the entire cast for filming at least 30 large budget television episodes and at least 2 presumably 3 hour films based on some of the the most abstract visuals ever written?This is going to cost about $600 million minimum and take 5 years of work before any results at all. Avatar might have been close with the technology it had to develop to film it, but that was still just 1 movie.

 
hooter311 said:
playin4beer said:
hooter311 said:
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
TV isn't what is was 20 years ago, they could get away with a lot these days on any cable network. The thing is, to keep this from being a multibillion dollar project, they are going to have to film EVERYTHING at once. Think of the time spent on Lord of the Rings and times that by about 3. No "A" list stars are going to take on a 5-7 year project so I think its safe to rule out Viggo and Brolin.There has to be some pretty deep pockets behind this that want to make this happen, this is probably going to be the largest financial risk in film history.
Click to expand...
What about Titanic and Avatar?
Click to expand...
Seriously? This is going to require the commitment of the entire cast for filming at least 30 large budget television episodes and at least 2 presumably 3 hour films based on some of the the most abstract visuals ever written?This is going to cost about $600 million minimum and take 5 years of work before any results at all. Avatar might have been close with the technology it had to develop to film it, but that was still just 1 movie.
Click to expand...
I guess I could be out in left field here...but why wouldn't they start with just 1 movie on the Dark Tower series?? If it flops, they don't continue...
 
playin4beer said:
hooter311 said:
playin4beer said:
hooter311 said:
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
TV isn't what is was 20 years ago, they could get away with a lot these days on any cable network. The thing is, to keep this from being a multibillion dollar project, they are going to have to film EVERYTHING at once. Think of the time spent on Lord of the Rings and times that by about 3. No "A" list stars are going to take on a 5-7 year project so I think its safe to rule out Viggo and Brolin.There has to be some pretty deep pockets behind this that want to make this happen, this is probably going to be the largest financial risk in film history.
Click to expand...
What about Titanic and Avatar?
Click to expand...
Seriously? This is going to require the commitment of the entire cast for filming at least 30 large budget television episodes and at least 2 presumably 3 hour films based on some of the the most abstract visuals ever written?This is going to cost about $600 million minimum and take 5 years of work before any results at all. Avatar might have been close with the technology it had to develop to film it, but that was still just 1 movie.
Click to expand...
I guess I could be out in left field here...but why wouldn't they start with just 1 movie on the Dark Tower series?? If it flops, they don't continue...
Click to expand...
They are planning on filming everything at once. 3 films and at least 2 seasons of TV.
 
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Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
The only standard cable network I think this would work on is FX. I am hope they use Wizard and Glass as one of the TV Series seasons. I think that book would translate to a series very easily and it does not contain as much "mature" content.
Click to expand...
 
SmoovySmoov said:
Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Courtjester said:
If this is confined to a regular network and not Showtime or HBO, this is going to suck big time.

In addition, King's books have never really translated well to the movie format with the exception of Stand by Me, Shawshank and the original Shinning.

It and the Stand, after being such classic reads, were terrible disappointments because they were limited as to the G/PG scenes they could show on a family network. I see no way they are going to get this to work unless they can show some of the things that make King's works scary which means an "R" or "TV-MA" rating.
Click to expand...
The only standard cable network I think this would work on is FX. I am hope they use Wizard and Glass as one of the TV Series seasons. I think that book would translate to a series very easily and it does not contain as much "mature" content.
Click to expand...
*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();
Click to expand...
:blackdot: nothing that hasn't been shown on FX before.
 
Dungeon Master said:
timschochet said:
The more I think about it, the more I think "The Drawing of the Three", by far my favorite of the books, is going to translate horribly to either movie of television show. The doors, the lobstrocities, the way Roland enters peoples minds, and especially the schizophrenic presentation of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker could lead to a lot of outright mockery, the way Atlas Shrugged surely will. Some works are simply better off not filmed, and this may be one of them.
Click to expand...
Really? How hard would it be to do any of these things? Have you seen any movies from the last 20 years?
Click to expand...
I'm not saying it will be hard to do them in terms of special effects; I'm saying that what was believable in a book form won't be on the screen. It will seem laughable.
 
I think the actor that played Sawyer on Lost could be a great fit as Roland. I was thinking he might get a real shot if Cuse and Lindeloff were involved... but now that is not the case.

And who plays Eddie and Susannah? Maybe the chick from the new Star Trek that played young Uhura (Zoe something or other)?

It's an overwhelming project, but hopefully the right people will be at the helm guiding this thing. Has potential to be great.

 
timschochet said:
Dungeon Master said:
timschochet said:
The more I think about it, the more I think "The Drawing of the Three", by far my favorite of the books, is going to translate horribly to either movie of television show. The doors, the lobstrocities, the way Roland enters peoples minds, and especially the schizophrenic presentation of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker could lead to a lot of outright mockery, the way Atlas Shrugged surely will. Some works are simply better off not filmed, and this may be one of them.
Click to expand...
Really? How hard would it be to do any of these things? Have you seen any movies from the last 20 years?
Click to expand...
I'm not saying it will be hard to do them in terms of special effects; I'm saying that what was believable in a book form won't be on the screen. It will seem laughable.
Click to expand...
This happens quite a bit in King adaptations to film/television.

 
bigbottom said:
timschochet said:
Dungeon Master said:
timschochet said:
The more I think about it, the more I think "The Drawing of the Three", by far my favorite of the books, is going to translate horribly to either movie of television show. The doors, the lobstrocities, the way Roland enters peoples minds, and especially the schizophrenic presentation of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker could lead to a lot of outright mockery, the way Atlas Shrugged surely will. Some works are simply better off not filmed, and this may be one of them.
Click to expand...
Really? How hard would it be to do any of these things? Have you seen any movies from the last 20 years?
Click to expand...
I'm not saying it will be hard to do them in terms of special effects; I'm saying that what was believable in a book form won't be on the screen. It will seem laughable.
Click to expand...
This happens quite a bit in King adaptations to film/television.
Click to expand...
I always had an incredibly hard time picturing that bear with the plate in his head from the beginning of the 2nd book. The lobstrocities also didn't make much sense and this stuff seems like it should be the most straightforward parts of the imagery.
 
bigbottom said:
Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like a mess?
Click to expand...
Has a real shot to be a mess. I think there is a fine line for this... between greatness and heap of mess. Really need the right people guiding all of this project. Either way, I'm excited to see what can be done with this series of books. Tons of potential at least.
 
hooter311 said:
bigbottom said:
timschochet said:
Dungeon Master said:
timschochet said:
The more I think about it, the more I think "The Drawing of the Three", by far my favorite of the books, is going to translate horribly to either movie of television show. The doors, the lobstrocities, the way Roland enters peoples minds, and especially the schizophrenic presentation of Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker could lead to a lot of outright mockery, the way Atlas Shrugged surely will. Some works are simply better off not filmed, and this may be one of them.
Click to expand...
Really? How hard would it be to do any of these things? Have you seen any movies from the last 20 years?
Click to expand...
I'm not saying it will be hard to do them in terms of special effects; I'm saying that what was believable in a book form won't be on the screen. It will seem laughable.
Click to expand...
This happens quite a bit in King adaptations to film/television.
Click to expand...
I always had an incredibly hard time picturing that bear with the plate in his head from the beginning of the 2nd book. The lobstrocities also didn't make much sense and this stuff seems like it should be the most straightforward parts of the imagery.
Click to expand...
Wait until they get to the wolf robots riding robot horses.
 
shuke said:
bigbottom said:
Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like a mess?
Click to expand...
It's going to suck.
Click to expand...
:unsure: Big time. Going to be way too weird for the mainstream. And the highly critical, intensely devoted fan base who have read the books will have outrageous expectations. No matter how much they try to temper them, for this story it'd take a miracle to translate it to the screen even if every actor and producer was perfectly chosen. Best case scenario is probably the adaptation of Watchmen, which was met with a resounding meh.

This is the kind of project that's tantalizing at first and becomes enormously regrettable when it's all over.

 
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bigbottom said:
hooter311 said:
I always had an incredibly hard time picturing that bear with the plate in his head from the beginning of the 2nd book. The lobstrocities also didn't make much sense and this stuff seems like it should be the most straightforward parts of the imagery.
Click to expand...
Wait until they get to the wolf robots riding robot horses.
Click to expand...
This is why I thought JJ Abrams would be a better fit. Someone with the balls to change things big-time when they won't translate to film, but still stay true to the characters and themes. Those that say they need to stick to the story are out of their minds, IMO. I always thought the best way for this to be produced (without the visuals bordering on laughably absurd) would be as an animated series.
 
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