The Dark Tower series filmed adaptation

[Rahfa]

While Mr. Elba isn't what I pictured Roland looking like in reality, I am happy to give the man a chance to make the role his own. After all, the vast majority of Roland's characterization/interactions did not rely upon him having a Caucasian appearance.

Exactly - that's all I've been saying (just not as calmly as you).

Elba's not what I pictured either - but why not let ourselves, as fans, be open to a NEW interpretation? We've already had the memories of the books - those won't change - so with Elba (if he even were cast) we're getting something brand new that we've never seen.

By holding the line and refusing to accept a "new" version we don't even know if we'd like it - maybe we'd love it! Maybe Elba would be amazing, like Morgan Freeman's Red. We can't know until we're willing to try. Yeah, it could fail - it could be a total trainwreck...it's a creative risk, which can bring big rewards and epic failures.

[Rahfa]

Dolph Lundgren as Jesus in The Passion of the Christ?

Hmmm...

That certainly would have been a different direction...

[mattgreenbean]

By holding the line and refusing to accept a "new" version we don't even know if we'd like it - maybe we'd love it! Maybe Elba would be amazing, like Morgan Freeman's Red. We can't know until we're willing to try. Yeah, it could fail - it could be a total trainwreck...it's a creative risk, which can bring big rewards and epic failures.

Shawshank was a novella, The Dark Tower is 8 books. You're certainly not the only one, but I wish people stopped comparing the 2.

[Isamu Dyson]

While Mr. Elba isn't what I pictured Roland looking like in reality, I am happy to give the man a chance to make the role his own. After all, the vast majority of Roland's characterization/interactions did not rely upon him having a Caucasian appearance.

Exactly - that's all I've been saying (just not as calmly as you).

Elba's not what I pictured either - but why not let ourselves, as fans, be open to a NEW interpretation? We've already had the memories of the books - those won't change - so with Elba (if he even were cast) we're getting something brand new that we've never seen.

By holding the line and refusing to accept a "new" version we don't even know if we'd like it - maybe we'd love it! Maybe Elba would be amazing, like Morgan Freeman's Red. We can't know until we're willing to try. Yeah, it could fail - it could be a total trainwreck...it's a creative risk, which can bring big rewards and epic failures.

Additionally, we've yet to see who's cast for Jake and The Man in Black. Assuming the first film follows the first book, we won't have to worry about Eddie and Odetta/Susannah for a while longer.

(Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that the first film will combine the events of both The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three?)

---

That said...i'm actually more curious as to how the filmmakers are going to handle Roland's iconic twin revolvers. Will two dolled up .45 Long Colt "Single Action Army" pistols be used, or will they actually hire armorers to craft weapons that look "prehistoric" in their size and age?

Oh, and, Jack Andolini better be equipped with a Colt Cobra or i'm going to boycott this adaptation big-time .

[pathoftheturtle]

It seems like you have something to say, but you aren't coming out and saying it.

Um, no. I actually had nothing to say, for once, and literally just picked out a few points which it so happens I felt that I could speak to, to let my friends know I had caught up with this thread. If it seemed otherwise, that's just basic irony of the present unexpectedness in no agenda.

As a beteedub, tho, I now would like to add, just for the record, that, regardless of the (possibly more relevant) whole of SK's TDT Mid-World mythos, and right despite the 1950's media cowboy stereotypes, it does happen to be a verifiable, historical fact that 1850's real life cowboys of the American west were, in truth, quite commonly black, FWIW.

[Isamu Dyson]

As a beteedub, tho, I now would like to add, just for the record, that, regardless of the (possibly more relevant) whole of SK's TDT Mid-World mythos, and right despite the 1950's media cowboy stereotypes, it does happen to be a verifiable, historical fact that 1850's real life cowboys of the American west were, in truth, quite commonly black, FWIW.

Mucho salient point, sir.

For people that still cling to the "cowboys have to be white" mentality, let me ask you this: do books with characters merely influenced by cowboys of our Earth need to follow statistically correct (or close) ethnic demographics percentages in their representation?

Also, stories about heroes often feature exceptional folk. Having a heroic cowboy that happens to be of direct African descent sounds rather exceptional to me when you take a look at the vast majority of Wild West tales (which, again, is something of a non-issue because we are dealing with another world with different cultural evolution and a character that is more of a cowboy-knight-samurai hybrid than a straight up cowboy).

[Br!an]

Roland isn't a cowboy.

[pathoftheturtle]

It does annoy me when dystopian worlds happen to be inexplicably free from racism. I mean, Hollywood totally can legitimately suggest we should evolve beyond it with fictions like "Star Trek," where society has evolved in a number of directions closer to how people probably should behave. But it's just unrealistic in a dark and horrific future to have this problem apparently solved, which I've noticed in more than one movie. Times or universes far removed from RL history might have different priorities, but without some external force to drive humanity together, such as maybe real monsters and fantastic creatures running around in Roland's era, I think that for our culture to quit oppressing groups the way we do now and then slide back to oppressing others in entirely new ways is about as unlikely as the role reversal in the film White Man's Burden. Just saying, fantasy and sci-fi have different tools to deal with race issues than those available for contemporary dramas, where you might just show minority individuals responsibly employed. Maybe the best thing is to address it squarely.

[CyberGhostface]

(Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that the first film will combine the events of both The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three?)

I actually thought I heard that they were talking about cramming the first three books in one movie (maybe I misheard or this changed). If the plan is a movie trilogy plus a tie-in TV show you have to figure the plan is to cram some of the books together. IMO this speaks to a lack of confidence considering that elsewhere producers planning on making an entire franchise based off a tie-in Harry Potter book that was 128 pages long.

[Br!an]

I like the idea of combining the first two. That will show audiences who aren't familiar with the story that it isn't all going to be like The Gunslinger. Doing just The Gunslinger might be off-putting for some people.

Trying to cram the first three books into one movie is pushing it too far though.

[Bev Vincent]

That was the original plan -- however, it appears that the first movie is based on The Gunslinger based on more recent information.

[Johnny Alien]

I wish they would combine the first two. The first one just doesn't have enough in it IMO.

[Isamu Dyson]

It does annoy me when dystopian worlds happen to be inexplicably free from racism. I mean, Hollywood totally can legitimately suggest we should evolve beyond it with fictions like "Star Trek," where society has evolved in a number of directions closer to how people probably should behave. But it's just unrealistic in a dark and horrific future to have this problem apparently solved, which I've noticed in more than one movie. Times or universes far removed from RL history might have different priorities, but without some external force to drive humanity together, such as maybe real monsters and fantastic creatures running around in Roland's era, I think that for our culture to quit oppressing groups the way we do now and then slide back to oppressing others in entirely new ways is about as unlikely as the role reversal in the film White Man's Burden. Just saying, fantasy and sci-fi have different tools to deal with race issues than those available for contemporary dramas, where you might just show minority individuals responsibly employed. Maybe the best thing is to address it squarely.

Most fiction set outside of our own Earth does tend to feature prejudice of some sort (be it incidental or deliberately invoked to draw parallels with our own problems), even if it isn't of the "Caucasian versus African/African-descent" variety that tends to jump to the forefront of most people's minds.

[Isamu Dyson]

Yeah. I can see the events of "The Gunslinger" being trimmed down to the bare essentials in order to fit in more of "The Drawing of the Three", but trying to shoehorn "The Waste Lands" into what should be the third act seems a bit excessive.

[pathoftheturtle]

No period of suspense after Jake's death changes it fundamentally. But I suppose it's too late for that anyway. "Spoilers from the Books" articles would immediately be all over Twitter, 5 a.m., opening day.

[wolfehr]

Lawyer Herald >> The Dark Tower movie to be accompanied by a TV show; Idris Elba casting to play Roland Deschain not yet official?

For what it's worth, I've heard Lawyer Herald isn't the most reliable source.

[Rahfa]

I present this with no additional comment:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...medium=twitter

[Isamu Dyson]

Nozz-A-La viral marketing, anyone ?

[Isamu Dyson]

Okay, let us talk about the film's MPAA rating.

I very much doubt it will be NC-17, because it is, by and large, an economically unfeasible rating. We won't be able to see Eddie Dean fully in the buff (sadly) or Susannah tackling a sex demon in a straightforward manner.

R seems most likely: much violence can be featured and even some bare flesh in more taboo locations (by Puritanical standards, anyhow) can be exposed. Plenty of profanity can also be packed in.

Hopefully, the film won't be PG-13. Too much in the way of darker/mature themes will be sacrificed or moderately to heavily downplayed to make the cut. Knowing modern Hollywood, however, I realize pretty much anything is possible if profits are sitting at the end of the rainbow.

[fernandito]

No way it will be Rated R, as much as we all want it to.

PG-13. Need to maximize profits.

[webstar1000]

No way it will be Rated R, as much as we all want it to.

PG-13. Need to maximize profits.

100%

[Isamu Dyson]

The rapidity and certainty of the above responses scares me more than visualizing the Tick Tock Man in a thong.

[skyofcrack]

I can't wait for the reboot.

[fernandito]

The rapidity and certainty of the above responses scares me more than visualizing the Tick Tock Man in a thong.

Played by Channing Tatum.

I can't wait for the reboot.

[Merlin1958]

No way it will be Rated R, as much as we all want it to.

PG-13. Need to maximize profits.

I disagree. "R" is the new "PG-13".