The Dark Tower series filmed adaptation

[CyberGhostface]

Well he said adaptations that make "wholesale changes". These examples (Shawshank, Green Mile, No Country, and Fight Club) are all adaptations that are mostly faithful to the original author's intent. This seems less "Let's adapt King's series" and more "Let's use King's series as a jumping off point for something else".

[Iwritecode]

Well he said adaptations that make "wholesale changes". These examples (Shawshank, Green Mile, No Country, and Fight Club) are all adaptations that are mostly faithful to the original author's intent. This seems less "Let's adapt King's series" and more "Let's use King's series as a jumping off point for something else".

The Running Man would be a good example of that.

[divemaster]

And Under the Dome.

[mtdman]

Seems like they're taking the Dark Tower name, rewriting all of it to fit in one long movie, and trying to make a $$ off it. If that's the case, I'm not interested.

For years fans of Ender's Game wanted an Ender's Game movie. I wasn't sold, as so much of that book is written subtleties and not action. Yet they pressed on and eventually got a movie made. Not exactly wholesale changes, but it did not translate to a movie screen well. The movie had lots of action, but none of the written subtleties. And it sucked, and flopped. Similarly, the Dark Tower series has a lot of action and violence. But so much of it is in the written word. Yes you can make a Dark Tower movie that has lots of action and shooting and weird characters. But that's not the Dark Tower series or story, and it won't work.

[Jon]

I think that Terry is fairly old, but don't quote me.

See how you are?? LOl

[Merlin1958]

Seems like they're taking the Dark Tower name, rewriting all of it to fit in one long movie, and trying to make a $$ off it. If that's the case, I'm not interested.

For years fans of Ender's Game wanted an Ender's Game movie. I wasn't sold, as so much of that book is written subtleties and not action. Yet they pressed on and eventually got a movie made. Not exactly wholesale changes, but it did not translate to a movie screen well. The movie had lots of action, but none of the written subtleties. And it sucked, and flopped. Similarly, the Dark Tower series has a lot of action and violence. But so much of it is in the written word. Yes you can make a Dark Tower movie that has lots of action and shooting and weird characters. But that's not the Dark Tower series or story, and it won't work.

Well said regarding TDT & King. To me that is the main reason a lot of his material does not translate well to the film medium. "The Shining" is a classic example, but it permeates his works in general. Those "In the head conversations" are crucial yet, very difficult to translate on film. Generally speaking that is.

[Isamu Dyson]

Is anyone here cool with the idea of all the books being condensed into a single film? The idea lacks appeal to myself (particularly because i've seen a similar attempt crash and burn before).

[Br!an]

No

I could see it condensed to a trilogy. It's too epic for a single film.

[Johnny Alien]

I have no idea how many it will be but it is for sure a multi film deal and won't be condensed into one. I am starting to come around a bit to the Jake changes. I don't care about the changes to his parents and if you consider that abducted children play into the tale but are only really explored in Black House this might be a clever way to bring that aspect of the tale into the movies. Since Jake definitely seems to have a touch of "the sight" it would make sense that he might be targeted by the Crimson King. And by starting with him it might make his early death (if they keep that) a lot more meaningful.

[CyberGhostface]

IMO we would need 6-7 movies to do the series justice. Maybe five if they deem it necessary to chop out most of the backstory from W&G and WotC (as much as I love Callahan's backstory I imagine it'd be the easiest to remove). Any less and we're approaching King's metaphor of the car with all the upholstery torn out.

[wolfehr]

https://twitter.com/StephenKing/stat...74793145159680

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

[mae]

[CyberGhostface]

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/29...ew-mcconaughey

Fairly in-depth article here. Of note is that they're not starting with 'The Gunslinger' apparently.

[mtdman]

"Arcel declined to specify which books his movie focus on, but he did offer this clue: “A lot of it takes place in our day, in the modern world.” "

I am not reassured.

[mae]

So they're starting with Drawing.

[Kingfan24]

I can't help but feel Idris was cast because of all the stupid PC bull crap going on in this day and age. He's an Okay actor, not fantastic, and it really turns me off from seeing the movie.

[Bev Vincent]

Here's what Steve told me in my interview in The Dark Tower Companion: "I can tell you that the character of Jake Chambers is very important and Akiva Goldsman did a brilliant job of integrating the fantasy world of Mid-World with the real world of New York City, and the two things interchange in a way"

There have been some script revision/rewriting since then, but it seems like maybe the original concept is still in play.

Filming in South Africa in 7 weeks. Drat. I guess a set visit is out of the question!

[mae]

I hope they scrapped the TV portion and just do five or six movies.

[Bev Vincent]

[Lookwhoitis]

Nightmare. I'll bet it flops and we will NOT See multiple films.

[Iwritecode]

Nightmare. I'll bet it flops and we will NOT See multiple films.

Agree. I have yet to see anything that gives me hope that this will be anything besides an abject failure.

[fernandito]

As I stated before, Elba would not have been my first (or second or third choice), but he is what we got and there's nothing left to do for me but stand behind the decision. He's a great actor so I'm hoping he wins me over in this role.

MM will knock it out of the park I'm sure.

[fernandito]

Colored contacts for Elba?

[WeDealInLead]

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/29...ew-mcconaughey

Fairly in-depth article here. Of note is that they're not starting with 'The Gunslinger' apparently.

Hmm...that makes sense if they want the wider audience to come back for the second movie. Roland really is not a nice person in The Gunslinger: he murders an entire town, gun rapes a woman and drops a boy into a chasm and then the book ends with no real resolution.

In any case, I'm there.

[CyberGhostface]

I figured that but it's still essential to Roland's arc IMO. Which is why for me the ideal solution would have been a Netflix series with the first two books. Because someone binge watching would at least be willing to finish the season if it's available in its entirety and they might be won over once DotT starts.