the DT movie thread

[Brice]

unfortunately, it seems there is, but this thread is for speculations and the like.

[Sly]

Roland : Steven Moyer(True Blood)
Eddie : Joseph Gordon Levitt
Odetta: Zoe Saldana
Jake : Aaron Refvem
The Man in Black : Michael Fassbender(Taken, Inglorious Bastards)
Cort : Wade Williams(Prison Break)
Allie :Laura Dern

[Dean]

Reports of a Dark Tower TV series and movies have been in the news recently. Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman, Brian Grazer and Imagine Films are in discussions with Steve regarding the adaptation of the series. Here's the word from Stephen:



"It looks good. Things are happening and they are happening fast but any reports you see might be taken with a grain of salt for the next couple of weeks. You will know the news from the official source as soon as we are able to post it."


Steve

[Professor Askew]

I really think this could work as a television series. Pair the right production team with the right channel and it could work. You would want to ignore the novel divisions and rework the material to captivate the audience per TV season. Make sure the material is geared toward steady character development, the right mix of action and drama, and make sure the material builds up toward exciting cliffhangers at the end of each season. I have no personal preference over network television versus commercial-free cable because, like Lost, I care most about the DVD release in the long run. Though obviously the writers can get away with more on cable.

I would love to see The Dark Tower on the big screen but it would have to be a very long series like Harry Potter and unless a studio locks the project into a nine picture deal (doubtful), I'd rather take my chances with TV.

PS, as a side note, and since I've never posted here, I've always seen Lance Henriksen as Roland. But, that's just me.

[KaMai19]

I just don't know how to feel about this...

It's one of those things that has potential to be brilliant or crap. I think I'd be content with something inbetween. Something that does justice to the story, the world, the characters. Even if it's not spot on I think I could forgive quite a bit as long as it was done in the spirit of the series.


I must admit, however, deep down I always kind of hoped Joss Weadon would be involved in something like this....

[Dean]

I think the quality of the series depends on the network for sure, but anything with Ron Howard involved should be top quality.

I say bring it on.

[CurtSeattle]

I didn't think Battlestar Galactica would be any good, but I was totally blown away at how good it was.

I think there is hope!!

[Galdaran]

Good news.

But Ron Howard doesn't inspire me the Dark Tower Psychodelic Journey vibe we need.

[boq]

Not sure. Although I love Ron Howard's "Apollo 13" and "A Beautiful Mind" - maybe because he did such a good job of dramatizing true events and getting the absolute best from the cast. Can't usually be that bothered with Russell Crowe but his portrayal of the plight of John Nash was outstanding.
I should check out some of Howard's fictional work... any recommendations?
I could see things going badly wrong though, attempting to televise The Dark Tower. The job of editing the story down into a screenplay would be monumental... though not impossible.
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed

[Sly]

Hopefully Sci Fi or HBO will pick it up. I'd work well with True Blood as a lead in.

[Aaron]

I sincerely hope that SyFy keeps its grubby paws off. They cannot be trusted with adaptations, especially fantasy stories. Tin Man and Alice were enough to make me lose all of my faith.

HBO is waaay too risky since they have a track-record of cancelling shows with good ratings and critical acclaim, just because they have a cheaper show they can replace it with. I love HBO shows, but would be royally pissed to only get half of the DT because their pockets arent deep enough.

I vote for Showtime or AMC.

[Sickrose]

I hsve been watching Deadwood and Wild Bill Hickock makes me think of Jonas. i think it's the long hair.

[velcro_fly]

Steven Deschain - Stephen McHattie

[Mo-linoDeViento]

I believe it could work as a television series: there are certainly plenty of plot twists. However, I'd much rather see it as a movie series or a limited series of one-hour episodes...perhaps 10-15 of these episodes? Something concretely limited from the beginning, so writers don't have to twist/warp/stretch the original story too much to keep the show going for greedy viewers. 'Tis fragile.

It would obviously take quite a few of these to get the whole story out, and it would take ages, but I would be thrilled to see some sort of video adaptation of it, film or otherwise.

[Matt]

After what HBO and Showtime have been doing with some of these shows like Weeds, Deadwood, Rome and The Tudors I am starting to think TV would be great for it.

I wish they would do Conan!!

[slacoss328]

I just finished my first read through, and at several times, during each book, I thought that this story would be great to see as either a TV series or long movies series. I just don't think that would be anyway possible to do it properly. The story is so rich with detail, with each scene and event fully giving to the overall arc of the story, I would hate for them to leave ANYTHING out. I could be wrong, but I think this would be a disaster in the making.

[10luluff]

yes please, i cant help having a huge crush on roland and as a big l o r fan and a aragorn fan of course it would make my life never life my day if he was cast as roland

[Dean]

BTW, I copied and pasted my original post from Steve's official website.

[RolandsConscience]

I always thought Steve Buschemi for Eddie, again if only he could be younger. Wise cracker, skinny enough to be an H addict and seems to be the right personality.

[WarriorFromRheims]

This is only my personal opinion, but I think Viggo Mortensen would be a perfect Roland. Just watch Appaloosa, and The Road.

[katevondanzig]

Hugh Jackman for Roland - As I have always imagined him that way ever since I started reading the books...as for Eddie I'm not sure - he always looks like a long haired rock star in my mind

[Brainslinger]

Viggo's a good catch. I was thinking of Nathan Fillion too (although he doesn't look much like my mental picture) but he is probably too young. He'd need to tone down the humour too. Since he is an actor and therefore you take on different personalities, maybe that's unfair of me. It's just so easy to think of Mal Reynolds, and while both he and Roland both have a dry sense of humour it's a lot closer to the surface with Mal.

For the second question 'Who would YOU be?'

Oy.

EDIT- On seeing this:

Odetta: Zoe Saldana

my first thought was "too young". (Which makes a change. I usually find actors people suggest for Susannah too old.) On further investigation though the lass is 32! Probably a bit older than Suze from the books, but certainly within the age range, and looking at images on the net, she actually could look the part. I just had the mental impression from her role in Star Trek that she is much younger than she is mainly due to the character she plays.

[RainInSpain]

Yep, Viggo seems to be a good fit for Roland, an obvious fit. Perhaps even "too obvious". I mean, every time a possibility of a DT movie is discussed (not necessarily on this forum), either VM or Hugh Jackman are inevitably named as first or second choices. Nothing wrong with that but I'd go with someone less well-known.

Besides, I'm slightly uncomfortable with the idea of the same actor playing two characters that have enough similarities between them. Not from the "type-casting" standpoint, rather, I'm not sure it makes sense to call for more comparisons where comparisons will be inevitable anyway (if only because both books are epics).

[Doe]

I would Prefer an unknown for Roland, I tend to think its always the best way.

Otherwise I would go with this guy, Viggo Mortensen

[Doe]

Er what?