Cool News
Stephen King speaks about DARK TOWER from the NYCC... And yes, this includes new info on the JJ Abrams rumor!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here at the tail end of an incredibly busy day. My flight out of New York is very early in the morning, so I'm going to sleep and work on transcribing my one on one interview with King while traveling to post Monday... It's a good one. In the meantime, I thought I'd run down the panel discussion a bit for you Tower junkies.
The panel included King, Jae Lee (artist), Joe Quesada (head honcho/artist), Robin Furth (Queen of Dark Tower knowledge), Peter David (writer), Ralph Macchio (Marvel man, definitely not Daniel LaRusso), Richard Isanove (colorer) and Chris Eliopoules (letterer), although King was the one people wanted to talk to the most.
He came out wearing a SHAUN OF THE DEAD t-shirt and the audience just went nuts for him. They were all there to talk about the comic, but the geeks, of course, wanted to know a little bit about everything. Here's a rundown of what was discussed:
-Right now there are no plans to bring on any other artist for the Dark Tower comics. King loved Jae Lee's work and says that these books are firmly Lee's, Furth's and David's vision.
-The comics will follow Roland through Mejis (all Book 4 stuff), but it definitely WILL go past Book 4 and all the way up to Jericho Hill, which King demanded a giant splash page from Lee.
- Regarding further Dark Tower comics, King said, "There's always more stories."
- Hal from 2001 inspired Blaine the Mono (and that is the truth).
- When King writes, he doesn't see his characters, he doesn't tend to visualize them. "It's like I'm behind their eyes... maybe if they looked in a mirror..."
- King views the Dark Tower series as a first draft and plans to rewrite the entire series, but he promises he won't make them the Special Editions. The originals will always be out there.
Now for the two biggest newsworthy bits to come out of the panel:
- When asked if he'd turn another one of his books into a comic series with Marvel, King said he and Quesada were just beginning to talk about doing a version of The Stand as a Comic series. That made me perk up. How cool would that be?
- And the JJ Abrams bit. King said that Damon Lindelof and JJ Abrams did express interest, especially Damon, and wanted to develop the project. King said he was resistant to everybody in the past, but trusted Abrams and Lindelof. He said he trusted Frank Darabont, too, but he felt Frank always had too much on his plate. When Abrams and Lindelof approached King about trying to make the project work, King responded, "I'll tell you what... you can option the books and see what you can do with it." Nothing is set up, but they have the option... and if it doesn't work out, then no harm no foul, yeah? How much did Abrams and Lindelof pay for the option? $19, of course.
So, yes. They have the option. I talked with King an hour or so after the panel (a true geek out moment if there ever was one) and got more out of him about Abrams' plan. I'll have that out to you in less than 2 days, so keep an eye out for that in the very near future.
PS, my Mac Mail is really fucking up on me, so I'm reverting back to my Yahoo account until I can get my Mail program to stop freezing on me. If you've sent me an email in the last 2 days, please resend to the Yahoo account below. Thanks!
-Quint
aicnquint@yahoo.com
Readers Talkback
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Dude, sleep is for the weak!! This is like withholding heroin from the Rentons of the world.
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Tons of news. Rewriting the entire series? Wow. Another Tolkien.
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Thanks for the info, mate
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Feb. 24, 2007, 9:49 p.m. CST
"King views the Dark Tower series as a first draft "
by xavier masterson
In the wise words of "The Chin", "Fuck you, that's cheating!"
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Accept it.
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I adore the series, but the final showdown with the Crimson King was a joke. The ulimate villain of the Stephen King universe reduced to a squeeling old geezer hurling bombs? C'mon, Steve! You didn't even try!
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Will that mean a second re-write of The Gunslinger, or does he consider the revised edition the beginning of his new re-write? 6 words for this new edition: ROLAND GRABS THE F-ING HORN OF ELD.
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Jim Caviezel IS Roland! ;)
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Katee Sackhoff IS Roland...
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So let him ACT. WTF does the stem cell bill have to do with his acting chops? If I gave a rat's ass about what Hollywood actors did when they weren't acting, I wouldn't EVER go to the movies.
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but Clint Eastwood's and Lance Henrickson's DNA fused into a clone aged about 40-45 years is Roland. have you seen the pic from "the wastelands" where he's firing the bullet in Lud (i think)? says it all.
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Viggo Mortensen. No one else. Viggo is dead on perfect.
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Absolutely fantastic. As far as rewrites go? Do it. For sure. As far as a STAND comic goes? Oh hell yes. Think about it, instead of a 500 issue release or whatever it'd need to be, each month, you could have various different comics coming out, different ones tackling each character and what they're doing at that time. Starting with around a half dozen different issues per month or something, culminating in one issue down the track when they all come together?
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Still not happy about Abrams, though.
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thing is, Roland is old. not J(im)C(aviezal), Wolverine old...older. guy's gotta have lines in his face. a seasoned older dude. i believe they actually mentioned this if you, well, in fact... READ THE FUCKING BOOKS! clint in the sketti westerns would've atleast been close.
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He is withered and worn, and looks like he could drag dozens to their deaths for his cause, feel bad about it, then do it again. Roland needs to be made of leather. Dude freaked me out in Dead Man.
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YES, he is older than the actors that have been suggested, but SO WHAT? Makeup, CGI - Marvelous creations that can actually make someone LOOK older! And I'd love to know where you're going to find an actor true to Roland's age that will be able to draw down that fast - ain't gonna happen. Goodnight all.
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Jack Bauer is Roland...
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I don't think Lindelof has finished the Ultimate Hulk/Wolverine series yet. He did the first 2 issues, then they reprinted the 2 into 1 comic. Very very slow. I know you're producing and writing 'Lost' first, but finish what you start first
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Hollywood has a little thing they use called make-up - it works pretty well.
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...far more eloquently than I. Sorry Sur dude. Keep the faith, brother.
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He says that like in an "as oppposed to" sorta way with JJ Abrams? umm Lost, Star Trek, Dark Tower (whatever other ABC series he's got cooking)... am I missing any other massive creative properties? I'm personally wondering if JJ's getting too popular (read: busy) for his own good. Just when I thought he was gonna come back and be involved with Lost again for awhile, bam, word comes he's gonna direct another film. He's never gonna be significantly involved with Lost ever again. *sigh*
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make it so! wait, i kinda hate S.T. Stephen King you like...The Pandora's Box Trilogy Book One: Into the Void.
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Just change Flagg's look, first we get the mullet then the scrawny pale dude.
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It always seems like you're the only person attached to this site that does hard work and doesn't have their head shoved up Michael Bay's ass.<p>I can't wait for the breakdown of your interview!
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What? What?!?!?!?!?!?
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Wasn't there a theory that Robin Furth was King, what with the R.F. initials?
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Clancy Brown for Roland,he may not quite look right but I think he would just be able to play the part.He`s about the right age,height and could certainly do the voice,although I do quite like the idea of Hugh Laurie. Gina Torres as Susannah Dean, Rik Mayall as Dandelo, Tiffany Mulheron as Susan Delgado, Christopher Lloyd as Father Callahan, Billy West as the voice of Blaine, David Hewlett as the man in black, David Hyde Pierce as the pusher.
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Great article. Too pleased to think up any negative thoughts about a Dark Tower movie. Oh and Guy Pearce as Roland!
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Sometimes I imagine him as a ruggedly handsome Marolboro Man type, and other times I picture him as old and grizzled (like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven) Do you think he should be played by an actor in his 40s, 50s or 60s?
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Daniel Craig.
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although until he discovers and reveals Jesus Christ's final resting place, he will always come up short.
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"Tiffany Mulheron as Susan Delgado" Clancy Brown I can get behind I suppose, but that just doesn't work. Not that there are very many actresses with the natural beauty to live up to King's description (Kristin Kreuk is the closest one I can think of, but she doesn't fit the description) but Tiffany Mulheron isn't even all that pretty! This is a girl who "far greater men than Hart Thorin might have given away kingdoms for." If only they could hurry up and invent time travel, and go grab Robin Wright when she was 16...
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There is another who comes close besides Kristin Kreuk, and she even fits the description and has already worked extensively with Abrams - Emilie de Ravin
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Has got my geeky juices flowing
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Thank God Quint got more out of King. That panel was a piece of shit. Really, who in their right might would turn it over to the audience from the very beginning? Joe Quesada, that's who! Obviously he didn't know how to moderate it, so turned it over to the audience so we got questions like "Uh, Mr. King, if I donate $100.00 to your favorite charity will you sign my book for me?" The panel was a waste of time. --G
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Biologically Roland was probably late 30's early 40's by the end. You all have to remember that time slipped around alot and that at the end of the the first book he and Walter were in a timeless zone for a long er time. So Roland (this time around) has sought the Tower for hundreds of years...but has not aged past say 42.
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If there's anyone from New England I love more, I dunno who it'd be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttfqg-t0T5I Chief-Resident Movie Critic The Townie News Townienews.com
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"at the end of the the first book he and Walter were in a timeless zone for a long er time." <p> And Walter said in Book 7 that it was a trick - it was just one night.
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I just have a gut feeling that Damon Lindelof would be the perfect choice to take on the Tower...and win! But the series would be too brutal for ABC (remember, one of the first things that happens in the series is Roland gunning down an entire town when the people go crazy, also a pregnancy is aborted with a gun (I think...))
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I just read it for the first time last year, with the extended edition. Which one is better? And was anyone else disappointed with the Deus Ex Machina ending, literally-the hand of God??! And then Randall apparently is just some wizard who got buttraped and is later eaten by a spider? He ain't even the Satan?
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i'm a dick when i'm drunk, sorry guys. whoops.
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You've got the stones to apologize, so no harm done.
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I'm guessing you saw the mini-series long before reading the book. Abagail makes it very clear that Flagg is "not Satan, but he and Satan know of each other." As for which is better... do you mean between extended and original, or between The Stand & DT? I'll assume the former. You really can't compare the two, because it really is the same story, just more fleshed out in the 1990 version. There are parts of the extended I really liked (Stu meeting Jim Morrison, learning more about just how long Nadine has been communicating with Flagg) and parts I could have done without (The Kid was completely unnecessary, as was the scene where Frannie tells her mother she's pregnant). But I really couldn't say I liked one more than the other, because they're the same book to me. (at last count, I've read the original 4 times, the extended 9 times)
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Feb. 25, 2007, 11:46 a.m. CST
Don't know why people have a problem with The Stand
by performingmonkey
The longer version of The Stand is what King originally intended but he had to cut it all back.
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I've seen some parts of the mini, but some of it was so bad I had to skip it. Opening sequence? Kick ass. Rest of the movie? ...meh. If they remade it as an HBO, or even FX mini, I think I'd impregnate my pants. I forgot about Flagg being, not Satan, but a buddy, like Abagail not being God, but a buddy. And I guess I could have made it clearer I was talking about the two versions of the Stand, as a poster above implied King ruined it with the 1990 version, which I thought was great. Then again, never read the original.
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Feb. 25, 2007, 11:52 a.m. CST
Maybe we can lose "The Chap" this time around Steve-O??
by CarmillaVonDoom
Worst. Plot device. Ever. And the 'sneeches' from HP...lame. Book six and seven are the biggest downward spiral of any professional writer I've ever read. He might want to go back to beers and blow; most of his stuff has been sub-par since he quit!
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I never thought it was suppposed to LITERALLY BE the hand of god, I always imagined it as a sign of hope/trick of the light, but not the real thing.
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I know some folks didnt like how the series turned out. But i though 5 and 7 were great. 6 however, was rubbish.
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I'm SO unexcited by this project it's not even funny. Everytime I see a story about it hear, it feels like another stab of betrayal caused by the downfall of a once great series that wondered off into nowhere.<p> On second thought, JJ Abrams would be perfect for that. Barring him, someone should call up Chris Carter. I'm sure he need the work.
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I wanted make the dark tower books into a movie. oh well there's always "Dante's Inferno"
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Is, of course, God's hand. He's been talking to Mother Abigail throughout the book. There may be revisionist theories based on later Dark Tower revelations, but King has always referred to "The Stand" as "at tale of dark Christianity".
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And the ending to the series is perfect. It's the only thing that could be done. What would you have preferred?
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Did anyone think to ask if the Dark Tower project will be live action? Animated? CG? As to Rolands age, I always pictured him as in his early 50's at the beginning of the series, and in his 60's after the Gunslinger. Why does everyone seem to picture Roland as such a pretty-boy? There has to be a reason Eddie calls him Long, Tall, and UGLY. When King re-writes the DT series, is it going to start with the horn of Eld in hand? If so then its almost a sequel rather than a re-write. Honestly, I prefer the original Gunslinger over the revised edition, I imagine I'll feel the same way if the other 6 books are revised (though this might open the door to another series of badass hardcovers from Donald M. Grant). Are we going to see more DT merchandise from Marvel? The 55"x20" poster of Roland hanging on my wall has me drooling in anticipation of more DT posters, action figures, sculptures, etc.
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gotta love rewrites. Gael Garcia Bernal for Roland. Ta-da!
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Feb. 25, 2007, 1:26 p.m. CST
Yes-rewrites! I only have every book in hardback! Fuck!
by kinghenryVIII
Those things cost some serious $$. And to pooch screw the last 2 books with that pitiful ending that was #7 .... I don't know wether to choke a bitch or be excited. Maybe rewrite #5-#7, thats when the series went to a facial. Wolves - I did like but Song and Dark Tower - he really stuck it in and broke it off on those.
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Don't Flame me, I'm just a little irked and have been since the release of the final book. First Draft? Weak. I waited like 20 years for book after book. Lame excuse for iconsistancy when you have a 5 - 7 year hiatus between episodes to get sh!t in order. I love SK's work and was a tower fanatic. But I wasn't happy with the series as a whole. He had me hooked with the first two books, but books three and four went nowhere towards the tower. Book four was a love story from Rolands past, and in the end the only charcter that played a lingering role in the series was Shemie, who was incredible magic all of a sudden when he was reintroduced in book 7. It seems like somewhere late in writing Book five that SK realized that he had to wrap things up and that he had cast too many plotlines out to deal with. He ignored stuff that he had written in Insomnia and Black House, He made Flagg a worthless Douche, He crammed in his real life near death experience which was just a distraction, unforgivably sacrificing a major character to the affair... 19 my ass. These are things that won't be justified with some editing or rewritten passages. Maybe JJ or whomever adapts the books will manage a cohessive story.
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Just stating it again, as it makes so, so much sense.
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Which other Lost alumns would make it into DT? Monaghan as Eddie, Emilie de Ravin as Susan, Evangeline Lilly as one of the Calla chicks who throw plates, Terry O'Quinn as Callahan (that actually could work),.
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also Viggo Mortensen. After watching "A history of violence" I realized that Viggo is the perfect choice
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Bag Of Bones. Its some of the best work he's done and that was recent. I get so tired of the bashing of King's recent stuff while conveniently ignoring this great book.
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http://tinyurl.com/33qlns ... Perfect, not too big a lead but still semi-familiar. Older and withered face. Definitely can play the bad ass and he was sweet in Backdraft.
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Has anybody here seen Carnivale ? The character of Brother Justin played by the great Mr. Brown is almost exactly the same as Flagg. Theres a scene where he mentally rapes a girl during a party which was like Flagg reborn on the TV screen. and oh VIGGO = ROLAND !!
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Wow. Yes, if it happens, Hugh Jackman should be Roland. I’ve literally got chills just thinking about it.
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He is the right age, he is a very good actor, he has the right voice, but most importantly he has the Bombardier Eyes.
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JAY LENO FTW!! and my cat can play OY i'll just tape his ears back. what? what's wrong? is this a bad idea? Christopher Lloyd then? It might be kind of cool to see Crinta Eastwood play him. ok i'm done
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He can eat his way through the darklands
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man...this Tower thing could go really fucking great...or extreamly fucking bad...I would like to see the first though, I'm a huge Tower junkie
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Oy would have to be a CG creature, they couldn't just use a dog or something, they might as well just cut the character if they were gonna use a real animal. Perhaps an animatronic, but how limiting would that be?
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The first book felt like a draft, but I', mot sure about the others. I can't get too excited for a movie. It seems unsustainable to me. Seriously, would the mass movie going public go to seven different movies about this? I can see this as a ongoing series on HBO or something, but a bunch of movies? I don't think so. Also the ending sucked. It was a cop out.
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Because from the sneetches to injecting himself into the story so much, his last three books fell way off. Those were rushed and definately first drafts the first 4 books are great, leave them alone for the most part
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I thought Terry Gilliam would be better suited at making a Dark Tower movie or series. Does anybody else think Sam Elliot would make a good Jonas, or Vincent D'onofrio make a good Cort?
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Ryan Gosling as Eddie...Angela Bassett as Susannah...David Carradine as Father Callahan...Dustin Hoffman as Blaine....Brian Cox as Pimli Prentiss...Chris Cooper as Cort.
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I second that. Did you see this guy in X-files. Yeah the post-mulder stories was crap, but he was good, and totally has the look for Roland.
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...live up to his standards. Glad to see he's got the rocks to own up to that and to do something about it. Those last three books really do read, for the most part, like a treatment or a meaty outline. And if he can work out more meaning/menace for Modred, Flagg and the Crimson King (as well as Eddie's and Jake's deaths), then King will have remembered the face of his father at long last. It's a whole new spin through the cycle for my namesake. And this time things are going to come out right.
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It was the last two books where the whole thing kinda fell apart.
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I don't like him rewriting, but as long as the original versions will be there I'll be happy. Also, please don't write an ending where everything is tied up nicely with a happy bow just to satisfy angry fanboys.
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Dude, Susannah is like 25! Just because Angela Bassett would have made a great Susannah in the late 80s doesn't mean she still would!
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...Lovecraftfan. In fact, the reset epilogue didn't bother me as much as the lackluster two and a half books that led up to it. The reset was actually a relief when I realized it provided a loophole for King to revisit (although I expected that revisitation to come via the comics or the screen adaptation rather than wholesale rewrites) the saga and do right by the characters he shortchanged so badly in his haste to wrap things up. Looks like he felt the same way.
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It should be a CGI film in which Clint voices Roland, some other actor can perform the motion capture for Clint's CGI model. This project is perfect for the ultimate CGI fantasy film, IMHO. The scale and alieness of Rolands worlds almost demands it. And then you have Oy, an Oracle Demon, Roland's bird, a house that attacks Jake, Robots, Rizas, lobstrosites, Suzanna's legs appearing and disappearing, great old vamps, dandelo, the chap in several forms, etc.... the film would need so much CGI already. Just go all the way with it. That's what I want to see.
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