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Quint weighs in on big Dark Tower news!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The Dark Tower has been a big part of my life since 7th Grade. I was a Stephen King fan and in late elementary school started plowing through his work.
At first I avoided the Dark Tower books… There were three at the time: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three and The Wastelands. I avoided them because I wanted to read horror, not some boring western!
Hoo-boy was I a dumb-ass. When I finally picked them up, checking The Gunslinger out of the Covington Middle School library (gotta love that my Middle School had a Stephen King section), I was immediately hooked. Hooked might be too tame a word for it. Addicted is better. I was addicted to The Dark Tower like Eddie Dean was addicted to heroin.
Roland’s world featured shoot-outs, raping demons, killer sentient trains, the murder of children, mutants, magic, alternate dimensions, a giant cyborg bear and lobster monsters. There’s nothing like it.
As a massive Stephen King fan going into these books there was an extra level of appreciation in that this series acts as a lynchpin for every other King book. Characters from other books pop up (The Walkin’ Dude, for example… not just spear-heading the fight against Mother Abigail in The Stand, but also trying to take out The Gunslinger as well) and King himself eventually became a character in his own story.
I was there as each book came out, ordering the Grant Books special editions, and witnessing how the books changed with their author. Each book reflects a different era of King and each book has a different personality, a different style.
While it probably means I’m a bad person, my first reaction to hearing about Stephen King’s near fatal accident was “Oh, my God… If he dies we’ll never know what happens at the end of The Dark Tower.”
One of the highlights of my life was getting the chance to sit down and talk Dark Tower with King when the Marvel Dark Tower books were announced at the New York Comic-Con. I’m that big of a nerd for him and for Dark Tower.
His post accident books have a radical shift in storytelling that threw a lot of people. Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower aren’t as fun as the first four and take a giant leap into a “what the fuck?!?” weirdness that even his previous four admittedly bizarre novels only nudged up against.
The series is complex, at times brilliant, at times indulgent, always iconic and emotional.
Which is why the guy that wrote Batman & Robin and the Lost in Space movie adapting this material for the big and small screen scares the ka out of me.
To be fair to Akiva Goldsman, I’ve heard his original attempts at both films were radically better than what ended up on-screen. The role of the writer is a perilous one… your name is in the credits even if you’re hired to act as a funnel for a committee of suits who wouldn’t know a good idea if it farted in their faces.
But this isn’t a franchise I feel comfortable giving a guy a chance with, which is why I’m probably going to come off as a dick towards the man.
The same goes for Ron Howard. I love his early stuff. I grew up on Splash, his Roger Corman work is ridiculous, but full of fun and Apollo 13 is a genuinely great movie. I kinda like his recent stuff, but The Da Vinci Code flicks never engaged me at all.
I haven’t spoken to either of these two men, so I don’t know where they’re coming from with regards to The Dark Tower series, but if it’s anything less than a “This is going to be my legacy” point of view then this isn’t going to work.
Credit must be given to them for getting Universal to invest in doing the whole series justice, smartly dividing up the story with three feature films and television series.
From what I gather from the news Ron Howard will direct the first film and follow that up with directing the first season of the show, which means The Gunslinger is a feature, The Drawing of the Three a TV show.
Mike Fleming’s story says the second feature will follow the first season, which would be great because The Wastelands is the most fun of all the books and it has some really harsh shit in it that probably wouldn’t make the cut on NBC. And it has a great cliff-hanger.
Following this the TV series looks to stick close to Wizard & Glass, telling tales of Young Roland Deschain and his original Ka-tet, informed by the book and the new stories from Marvel’s continuing comic book, King-approved, additions to the universe.
Goldsman will write the first movie and the first season of the show.
Over the last 16 or so years that I’ve had this monkey on my back I’ve watched its popularity grow. When I was first reading nobody ever seemed to talk about The Dark Tower series, even friends that were fans. But as it has continued the fanbase has grown and there’s a particular ownership the die hards feel they have over the story.
I know this because I feel it myself. The Dark Tower series is my precious and anybody who attempts to make it will always at first come off as thieving hobbitses.
Here are my major concerns. Howard is a very safe director, who delivers safe movies for the studios. The Dark Tower needs somebody willing to be risky, willing to be nearly as insane as the books. But it also needs someone who isn’t so reverential to the material that a film/TV version suffers for it. There are places where the books can actually be improved in a visual form.
And as for TV… If the deal was for HBO, Showtime or even AMC or FX to be doing the television portion of the story I’d be a little more comfortable, but a major network handling this material frightens me a bit. In order to keep a continuity I’m sure we’re going to get PG-13 versions of the movies, which itself is hard to swallow. It can be done, but it has to be the kind of PG-13 that pushes the envelope, creatively getting some of the harsher elements of the series across without explicitly showing stuff… like Roland performing an abortion with his revolover, for instance.
With the right group PG-13 movies could be done and done well (with harsher unrated cuts for the DVD and Blu-Ray release, of course). But do I trust The Drawing of the Three and Wolves of the Calla to NBC television?
It feels like we’re at a point where all I can do is sit back and hope Akiva, Ron and Brian Grazer have the story’s best interest at heart and are compulsively driven to bring this story to a mass audience, that they would literally rather die than treat this property with anything less than the complete respect it deserves.
I’m unconvinced, but the last thing I want is a shitty fucking version of The Dark Tower out there, so I wish them well on their journey.
Remember the faces of your fathers, fellas.
PS I know it’s obvious casting, but Aaron Paul for Eddie Dean. Just sayin'.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Sept. 8, 2010, 10:44 p.m. CST
Dad-a-chack? Dum-a-chum? Dod-a-chick? Dee-a-chee?
by Nasty In The Pasty
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His books are great, albeit seriously twisted at times. I don't get it though...are you required to watch the films and the TV show to get the story? Or will they seperately be telling the same story. Either option seems kind of silly to me. Should be one or the other.
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I just read The Gunslinger and I thought I'd have to read the rest. Thanks for saving me years.
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This seems like a monumental undertaking to me. If they pull it off successfully, I'll be seriously impressed...
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I cannot get past that first book. It puts me to sleep.
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for so long, instead of the ending written, I'll be happy. <p> I mean, c'mon man. You can't build up a Roland/Crimson King showdown for so long and then do what the books did, do ya kennit?
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this will fail. Also, if they turn Oy into Jar Jar Binks, there will be blood in the streets of Hollywood.
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Seriously, you have to dig in like 11 paragraphs to get to the news, and even then you have to do a double take to find out what this is about.
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The broadcast television audience couldn't even handle Twin Peaks. Do you really think they can handle multiple seasons of the batshit twists and turns of Dark Tower? This will never be able to be adapted for a mainstream audience. Like Watchmen, it's a brilliant book series that is unfilmable.
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I have a gut feeling this won't translate well to the screen. LA has fucked up so many King translations.
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...the first three were terrific - the last few slid off the rails, though I was perfectly happy with the ending. Don't know if this IS filmable, and again, I'm unsure if you can put any of it on TV and make it work. <p> <p>What they should've done was treat it like the Lord of the Rings trilogy - film them all at the same time for continuity, give them a solid R rating and don't worry if the movies run over two hours. LOTR didn't suffer at all with the length of the films.
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It's 7 books. 1 movie. 1 TV season. 1 movie. 1 TV season. 1 movie. That's 5. Are they just going to smash the last 3 books together into the last movie? Hell, even Harry Potter is breaking up individual books into multiple movies, and with something 10 times as rich in story, character, and a detail you want to CONDENSE it? It's gotta be 4 movies, 3 TV seasons, HBO/Showtime, and get Howard and Goldsman the hell away from it. I'm not a negative person, but I'm like Quint...those guys being in charge of something this big and this important scares the shit out of me. I don't want to have to wait for Christopher Nolan to come along and reboot this in 10 years too. Although that might be interesting...
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Him and no one else
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Then, the accident, and the last 3, which range from boring (Wolves) to pretty bad (Susannah) to the worst book and biggest middle finger to a fanbase that I've ever been exposed to (Book 7). If you ever really want to get a good laugh and kill some time, go check out the Amazon reader reviews of book 7, and see the various hilarious ways in which the readers shit all over that book. Despite what Quint may tell you (because he had 20 years invested in the series and couldnt handle such a buildup for so little payoff), it isnt just the ending that sucks about book 7, its every single page that LED UP to that ending. Its hilarious in its god-awful-ness.
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Filming seven books back to back would be near impossible, it took what 2-3 years for the LOTR to be filmed and that was 3 books, 7 books would be just too costly, too much of a gamble, although I would love it!
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Not that I object to them picking the prequel comics, I just don't think it'd make sense. Movie 1 - first book. Season 1 - books season 1 - books 2 & 3 movie 2 - book 4 season 2 - books 4-6 movie 3 - book 7. I'm almost certain this will change over the course of time, but jumping backwards for the second season seems a little not-finishing-the-story ish. Also Ron Howard would direct an full season? It can only really be a half-season non-network TV.
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Ron "Opie" Howard? NBC? This shit is gonna suck and you all know it. Just stick to the novels.
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With crap writer. More film at 11.
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I keep seeing ideas like "80's Clint Eastwood would be perfect." Well, no shit. But here's the thing: 80's Clint Eastwood doesn't exist. He existED. In the 80's. I'm not sure who I would go with right now. I've always thought of Long Tall and Ugly as being about 50ish. Gotta be someone who can take command of the screen. Also - importantly - gotta be someone who would be OK with taking the role and would be willing to devote this much time to the role, which eliminates a lot of the really big names, like Daniel Day Lewis or Viggo Mortenson, presumably. I know it sounds weird, but the name that comes to me right now is Richard Jenkins. If he got good and skinny, he might work well...
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But fuck it, anyway. One of the nice things about the jangly mess of a series King wrote is that it doesn't really have to be made in sequence. I think future filmmakers should just pick and choose and make standalone films that they care about. I'd love, for instance, to see Frank Darabont do Book 4; Quentin Tarantino Book 2; Guillermo del Toro Book 3; and if I had my way we'd resurrect Sergio Leone to do Book 1. Cast the characters differently every time, too. Fuck continuity. It's not like the books were all the same! And oh yeah ... Fuck the last three.
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I mean, come on. His character in Firefly WAS Eddie Dean (without the smack).
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My friends and I have been fantasy casting these stories for years as I'm sure many have too. I loved the Marvel comics that have been coming out, but as far as TV/Movie? I'm kinda over it. I would rather my beloved DT stay in art and print than have a bastardized version of it on the screen....heres hoping they don't royally fuck it up....
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In all mentions of the book by King, he explains that he was inspired by the Clint Eastwood westerns. This movie won't be good because Ron Howard will cast it badly. There is nobody with a Clint Eastwood presence that can pull this off out of our batch of modern day pussy actors. Not acting...presence. Unless they cast a no name that fits that bill then this will be a turd. Plus, who are they going to get to also do the TV series? Not a big actor.
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Tom Hardy. Ron Perlman. Viggo Mortensen. Jeff Fahey.
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Did you see Hot Fuzz? He could work.
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He has the perfect sense of merry evil about him. And the guy who played the Man in Black on Lost as Roland of Gilead
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These guys would be great, and they'd commit to the time: Tom Selleck; Scott Glenn; Sam Elliot (get that dude some credit back before he dies); and yeah, I'm gonna say it...Kevin Costner. (Open Range, motherfuckers.)
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I could see him throwing "sneetches" and cackling.
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that they'll probably go with the guy from the new Knight Rider. (I was going to make a joke and say 'the guy from Human Target,' but that might not be half bad.)
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Peter Weller. Or, hell, Kiefer Sutherland. He's looking for something long term to do now, and he does hardass pretty good.
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I'm assuming this is going to be filmed over several years, so how are they going to find a kid that will still look the same age throughout the series.
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So let's cast MacCauley Culkin.
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The more I love Viggo for Roland.
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Sign this son of a bitch on as an art director or something. Oh, and yeah, check Jeff Bridges schedule. See if he's free for the next twelve years. (I'm guessing no, but it don't hurt to ask.)
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And I actually thought of Drawing of the Three when I was watching the bathhouse scene in Eastern Promises. True story.
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midgets. duh.
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You pretty much summed up my entire experience with Stephen King and the Dark Tower series to a "T." Scary how close my own experiences with, and feelings about, this series mirror your own. I completely agree with PG-13 versions. If it's the case, I absolutely hate the idea that they'd be 100% set on PG-13 for everything. I think they need to make the films the way they need to be made and let the chips, or ratings, fall as they may.
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for Eddie. Done and done.
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Already worked with Ron Howard once. He'll be great.
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Agreed. I don't know why I didn't think of that.
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What if the movie completely tanks at the box office? do they scrap the rest of it? Or, maybe the movie does well enough, or it's a big hit, but then they start in on the TV series and everyone stays away in droves. Can they cancel that shit or are they locked in for at least a full TV season regardless of the ratings? Imagine if NBC canceled the series 6 episodes in (certainly not a stretch for NBC to do something so boneheaded); how pissed would the die-hard DT fans be then? In short, I wonder what assurances they have that they'll be given the room and time to actually make a go at the entire series?
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Wouldn't work any more than taking three of the longest ones and smashing them into a final film. Stuff will be removed, changed, chronology may be different, some stuff may be told as flashbacks, you never know...
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I don't wanna be negative, but I cant help myself. This is gonna suck. Ron Howard? Really? What fucking idiot at the studio read these books and thought "Gee, Ron-boy would be a good fit for this"???? ARE YOU FUCKING MENTAL PEOPLE??? GET HIM THE FUCK AWAY FROM THESE FILMS NOW!!!
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Quint, reading of your introduction to the series and your love of it practically mirrors my own experiences and thoughts. I received the first 3 books one Christmas and decided to finally give them a try. The first 3 I'm the most familiar with. I've read the actual paperbacks of those first 3 books at least 3 times, and have listened to them on audio tape at least 2 or 3 times in addition. (And those were the cassettes of Stephen King reading them himself.) I bought the book containing the poem which it inspired it, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came". I had the same, horrible, selfish thought that you did when I heard of his accident, and wondered if the quest would ever be completed. I completed the series on the top of Mt. Baldy in California because I wanted to finish it on top of a "Tower." I sat there in this small cafe finishing an epic I had started when I was a teenager, thrilled to be so near the end, yet also dreading it. I remember I was about a page and a half from completing the book when I realized I knew what the last sentence of the story would be. My girlfriend at the time stared at me as I finished, asking me if I was all right. I was so overwhelmed I could barely respond. Part of me thinks this should never be done as a film. It cannot match the impact that following a single story over 20 years can bring. And yet, I've seen the movie for "The Drawing of the Three" in my head. I know it. I almost feel like I could draw out the storyboards for it. It's one of my favorite movies that doesn't exist. And it's NOT a God-Damned NBC show or rated PG-13. I don't know...I wish them well. I do. But the pink glow of the Wizard's Rainbow is only showing me dark and scary things.
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Thin Alec was one hell of a leading man, and he's got the acting chops for this part. Pipe dream, of course, as Alec wouldn't commit the next decade of his life to something like this when he can continue to crush character parts. Still, I think he'd be great.
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Yeah, I didn't enjoy them as much either - but holy mother of pearl was that one of the most beautiful, spectacular, "holy shit" endings to a book I've ever read. Probably my favorite ending ever.
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With Detta and O-Detta. The jungle bunny dialogue barely works on the page, and I suspect they'll have to tone it way down in a movie.
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<p>. . .would go back and rewrite everything post book 4. I can't imagine him actually looking at books 5, 6, 7 and being HAPPY with the end result. Wolves seemed overly long with little significance, Song was just forgettable, and Dark Tower had one of the most uninspired showdowns of good and evil in literary history. Seriously, and old senile man throwing Harry Potter toys out the window? It's like a bloody nightmare.</p> <p>The only salvageable thing about the latter 3 books is Father Callahan's final act of redemption, and the epilogue revealing the true nature of the Tower. Everything else in those 3 books was less than stellar. I had always imagined the final battle being Roland and his ka-tet singularly facing a endless horde of foes, with the Crimson King at the very back, driving on his minions, gleefully and maniacally scrambling through his army to get to Roland and tear his head off or something like that. Like a replay of Jericho Hill, except it ends in Roland winning.</p> <p>Instead, we get the deus ex machina of some random kid erasing the embodiment of all evil with his eraser and paintkit. And friggin' golden sneetches. *sigh*</p>
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Ya, this is gonna suck. This is the guy who thought it was a good idea to revolve an Alien vs Predator movie around a bunch of teenagers and their love lives.
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I'm not negative or jump on the boards here to bash anything ever, but this is depressing. Ron Howard and NBC?! Does anyone think this can work? It'll have to be extremely watered down for network television and America just won't go for it. Mixing the television and movie formats is just silly. You'll run into the Walt problem from Lost trying to cast Jake. I wish JJ hadn't pussied out of the project. You think he would at least give it the care it deserved and make sure it didn't suck. Why does Opie and NBC even want to attempt this? Personally, I really like emu's idea of a different director taking on each book with a different style and cast. This is just all kinds of wrong. If someone thinks I'm full of shit, please talk me into liking this idea b/c I'd love to be exited about this but eeehhhhhhh...... I'll stop rambling now.
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Zoe Saldana as Odetta. Rutina Wesley as Detta. Create a genetic hybrid of the two specifically to play Susannah. PG-13 Quint!? Seriously!? The massacre in Tull alone can not be contained by PG-13.
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is a hack. His films are pedestrian shite.
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And Batman Forever <br> And Lost in Space <br> And Practical Magic <br> And I, Robot <br> And I am Legend <br> And Angels and Demons <br> <br> Goodbye, thing that I loved.
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that was Shane Salerno. IMDB is your friend. Goldsman did also write I Am Legend, which was absolutely fantastic and the theatrical ending is way better than the balls "everybody lives" ending. And it's not as if I Am Legend got bad reviews, quite the contrary, check out its Rotten Tomatoes rating. Awesome movie.
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That's when the series Nuked the Fridge.
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From NBC/Universal - the studio that has turned the SciFi channel into absolute shit over the past few years and alienated most of its devote fans. Oh, And let's not forget the director that made the adventure style stories of DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons into slow, plodding dramas. Or the crapfest that was The Missing. Or those epic films, EdTV and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Howard and Goldsman are COMPLETELY the wrong people to handle something this epic in scope and detail. This is nothing short of a complete and unmitigated bucket of suck in every sense.
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His films are pedestrian, and he all but destroyed Angels and Demons, and all but completely killed Dan Brown's Robert Langdon movie series. He should never be allowed near film again.
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FRANK DARABONT FRANK DARABONT FRANK DARABONT FRANK DARABONT FRANK DARABONT FRANK DARABONT FRANK DARABONT! Why would they not let Darabont give it a shot? Who the fuck is in charge of this shit? They're fucking idiots whoever they are. Ron Howard.BAH!Mediocre at best. Half his films are appalling. Without beating about the bush, he's not fit to tie Frank Darabont's laces...
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would make a decent Roland. The gunslinger is such a god damn amazing book. I hope we get to see a horde of doctor dooms on horseback with light sabers.
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zzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz.... ZZZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzz....
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Whether it be The Stand, Rose Red, the Tommyknockers, It, The Shining (TV), or the 13,000 other King projects that have been shlocked together, the common thread has been this: they all were completely unwatchable. I can name the great King adaptations on one hand, and then only using three fingers. Forget about the thumb and pinky. A project of the magnitude of Dark Tower probably shouldn't be undertaken. Especially not by Opie and Akiva. I'm still freaking out about the George R.R. Martin novels being brought to the little screen by HBO. God, please don't let that suck.
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That's a prequel story, and a damn fine little creepy one too. It's part of the mythology so I hope it gets included if this happens.
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...The Dead Zone, the rest are terrible, even his TV movies and mini-series adaptations, have been trash.
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...the first movie is not going to be made up entirely of just The Gunslinger. The chronology of the books is no doubt going to be played around with considerably. It's not going to be as simple as adapting one book as a movie and the next as a season of the show. I've always thought the series would be best presented in animated form. It's not necessary to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on live action films that could never hope to capture the grandeur of the books. It's taken 10 years to do the Harry Potter books as 8 movies and they're like 'The Hobbit' compared to 'The Dark Tower'.
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Or Mick Garris. Both of them have done great things with King's work. So far, this is the worst goddamned idea I've heard all year.
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There you go casting search done.
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is that someone has rewritten the last 3 books and given it a real ending. "EEEEEEEeee, EEEEEEeeeee" shouted supposedly the most evil and powerful villain ever before being drawn and erased by a teenager. The bad guys and the tower itself were a HUGE disappointment and "Uncle Stevie" had the misguided balls to write himself into the story before giving us about the shittiest ending I could imagine!! And to add insult to injury he pretty much said "I know it sucks, but SCREW YOU, my loyal fans!" I stopped giving a shit about his books after that.
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and have M. Night direct the first piece? That way this idea could crash horribly and the people who like these books can keep them and we won't have to discuss changes to the original material for years. vH pH
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would make a damn fine Roland. He's one of the few leading men working today who could fill the poncho of a young Clint Eastwood. That said, King's van accident killed the series regardless of his own personal survival. There's no way to tell this story in a satisfying way if you're forced to work with the godawful concept that informs the "resolution" of this journey. Unless a better writer is brought on to reconceive the ending, stick to Wizard & Glass and leave the rest alone.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 2:13 a.m. CST
Quint, is it cool to ask who your dream director/writer/cast is?
by BadMrWonka
I know you must have thought about it. but I also know that if this is really going forward, pining over alternate people working on it might be relatively useless.<p>but we can at least hear your thoughts on casting, yeah? people have been saying Daniel Day Lewis or Viggo Mortenson for Roland, but honestly, I think that's a little too hopeful. those guys aren't going to be able to commit to the endless shooting that this is going to require.<p>I'm just nervous that they hire a 20 year old. oh, and Clint has to pop up somewhere, since he's the inspiration for Roland in so many ways.
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great call, but how many drug addicts can he play?
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I mean, get real. Sergio Leone already directed the greatest fantasy westerns of all time. What is the great stylist RON HOWARD going to bring to the table? <p>Oh, right. $$$$MO-NAY$$$$!!! <p>I suppose they already realize that adapting this series into films is fucking ridiculous. I expect it to be about as accurate to the novels as the forthcoming Foundation film from Roland Emmerich will be to those stories.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 2:19 a.m. CST
Put it on HBO with Game of Thrones! Network TV + Stephen King
by SirGaryColeman
This shit needs to be dark and edgy or else it won't work... the only way all the weird shit will work (gunslinger in a wheel chair? child gunslinger? talking oy?... and a buncha other shit?) is if it's stylized and gritty. Network TV + Stephen King = disaster
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The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, Dead Zone, Misery, Stand by Me, Carrie... my guilty pleasures are Silver Bullet and Hearts In Atlantis.
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Oh wait....
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i never read it because im not sure what the fuck this dark tower thing wants to be.
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You Dark Tower fans can kiss this movie goodbye, because it will be a pussified version of the originals. Ronnie Howard should only make movies about talking puppies, and akiva should be making movies about shit being thrown onscreen. Which he already does. You Dark Tower fans are fucked. You all have my sympathy.
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Please just walk away, when the idiots went on and on about how Watchmen was unfilmable, how difficult that is, I was thinking no not really, lets see what they can do. <p> But when it comes to the Dark Tower series it is a huge challenge and to me a challenge that shouldn't be attempted by even a master let alone this hack of a writer and play it safe director, it will only end in tears. We have a much better chance of putting a man on Mars in the next 15 years than bringing an amazing, hell even decent Dark Tower series to the screen. <p>
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But the gaps killed me. I reread the first three when Wizard and the Glass came out and read that. Then they came out w/ the last three and the revised Gunslinger and I don't want to reread the first four again and I hope I remember enough or the summaries are good enough for the last three. I own em, just have to read em.
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its easy, just looking at the concept art above or whatever i can pretty much know how to translate this mediocre wreck into film and make it a masterpiece. so its about a kid whoes a cowboy right? easy, Zach Effron is it. and some scary stuff objects paranoia? easy. i make it horror like and have actors tear up after being attacked by monsters crayons. all done and done! let me film it folks, i do my services for free and at no cost, ill even bring my own trailer with me. Im so passionate about this thing let me do it and ill give those bookworms something to jerk off to.
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why is that movie loved so much?? i saw it like twice and for the love of me i dont get what people see in it?????????? its literaly one of the worst movies ever! not kidding! and fuck that actor! Tom Hanks sucks! not joking im being serious.
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Should have been Roland. Probably still could be, but would need to direct too. And make them soon I guess...
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must surely be the closest thing to the worst possible choice of director for this. Ron Howard is a journeyman, this needs a visionary. Fincher should be doing this instead of the Tattoo movies. Shit.
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I've read everything else King has written, but these.
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hes just too paranoid to be a fantasy writer.
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Mordred my ass.
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Really really hope they don't screw this up, although I have a feeling that with Howard behind the lense they will, the da vanci code anyone....yawn! Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmGMQbzfHAo
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"Couldn't the black chick have legs...? I mean the chair say's it all, really. Okay, fuck the chair, she'll have a slight limp instead....What? No, I said slight limp, not lisp, but that is awesome."
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" All thwee of uth are Gunthlingers now, Woeland..."
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bitches
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And Vin Diesel Eddie Dean. You know its going to happen.
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I think he'd nail it. But then again, an actor that good would mean there was a director that good, and a script that good... oops.
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NBC? PG-13 movies? God and the Man Jesus could they fuck this up more from the start? Just kill it now. This is going to be an abomination. It will make the previous mini-series adaptations look positively brilliant. NBC simply doesn't have vision and balls to bring this to screen the way it needs to. This is absolutely horrible news. Luckily I doubt it will ever happen.
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is that people built it up so much in their mind, there is no way they will ever admit it was a massive waste of time. I mean, that dude higher up the TBs climbed a friggin MOUNTAIN to read the last book! (and he has a GF!! Stunning, I know!). Do you think theres any way that dude, as he sits on top of his mountain, is going to snap shut book 7 after finishing it and say "Well....THAT was a collossal waste of time!!!" OF course not, hes going to talk himself into the "brilliance" of it all (rolls eyes).
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Is there anyone better suited? The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed...
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Maybe King Crimson will rock their hearts out in the Dark Tower ;) http://movienews.pipeno.com/
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...for the Crimson King. Just sayin'
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He's a Ron Howard alumnus, and he needs the work....so realistically, he's someone they could get. This is TV, folks....Joseph Gordon and Gary Oldman aren't gonna do a network mini-series.
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They best not fuck this up or gunfire will indeed be on the agenda!
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Don't get me wrong. I'd kill for the dark tower to be realized. But this needs someone else in charge. I commend howard and co for wantin to do it, but it requires someone hungrier. Someone who wont compromise or make a pussy version. As quint said, it requires someone who views it as being their legacy. The crowning achievement in their career. I don't think howard or goldsman even undertsand that concept. They just see a story they can rape, I think.
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I'm usually a dude who tries to be supportive of all movie projects, but Akiva Goldsman writing and Ron Howard directing "The Gunslinger," with a PG-13 rating no less, is ABSOLUTELY the wrong way to approach this series.<p> Yuck. Pffft! Wrong writer, wrong director, wrong approach.<p> Wrong everything.<p> Oh well.
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made me think he'd be great as Eddie.
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and that tower has magic powers that give life back to the dead? and the main character wants to go there to bring back his dead girlfriend? but finds that the Dark Tower has been overtaken by some evil guy using it to communicate between universes? and then the gunslinger guy kills him and that evokes the anger of other evil wizards from other universes? and the gunslinger becomes a target but hes determined to prevent war of something? blah blah?
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because of they do then its definitely a PG-13 fuckers.
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Even if, by the grace of God and Gan and the Great Turtle, and by all the powers of White and Light, and the ghosts of Nick Andros and Abigail Freemantle they managed to get the first 4 books on screen, it would still fall apart. <p> And do you know why? <p> Because when that car ran over Stephen King, it broke something in him. <p> Fear made him attack the remainder of the story before he was truly ready. Desperation made him rush the plotting. His own inadequacies and the search for meaning that hits us all when confronted with our own mortality, made him write himself and the accident into the book. (A stunning mixture of hubris and Mary Sue'ism.) <p> There's a reason the ending was not an ending. <p> The man King fell off the Beam. <p> It wasn't necessary to kill him. Just get him off the path. <p> Job done.
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Not even close.
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Oh man if this is done right it will be several shades of awesome. Wizard and Glass is one of my all time favourite books. I hope they cast Andy Dick as Roland heh heh
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Long days and pleasant nights..
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Hi, please check out my new page "Board Stiff" and click like. Loads of cool and geeky stuff on there that I'm sure you will love. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Board-Stiff/129214167099200
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The post accident books were off to say the least. Funny thing is I like Wolves of the Calla even though it was no more than Kings version of Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven. But I can't believe he hit the reset button. King's a genius, I understand they all can't be home runs. Still I think as faithful readers we deserved, yes deserved better.
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Maybe? did a writer, do a writer, will a writer, could a writer, best read them and enjoy instead of watching a mess ahoy.
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...as King, you really can't go past Bill Hader in the ten years it is going to take to get there.
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Fact.<br /><p><br />But if you have an addictive personality, and by that I mean if you can't even go a morning without some caffeine in you, then you should probably play safe and stay away from it.
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I was always dreading this day. The day someone decided to film something that I truly fear will diminish something special for me. I used to laugh at people who criticized Optimus Prime for having a mouth, and all that raping of childhood stuff. I guess I never really understood it till now. I was never a big reader until I got a hold of the first book a few years ago. I read these books during a challenging time in my life and can't really describe how these pieces of literature helped me during it. One thing for certain is they increased my love of reading still to this day. I don't think the criticisms of the books, particularly the last 3 are at all unfair or unfounded. But I love the uncompromising mess of it all, in particular the last 3 are my favorite for it. But I cannot muster up any hope that what they are planning will contribute anything to the series or anything at all. This is really a story that is meant to be READ. I am actually really starting to fucking hate Ron Howard. Can't he just do another Dan Brown movie and piss off?
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Sept. 9, 2010, 7:56 a.m. CST
So the Dark Tower is about a tower that does nothing?
by DioxholsterReturns
its ancient ruins from an old empire that got diminished along time ago? and the main character came across a magic revolver that doesnt run out of bullets? and he used it to fight bandits but then he rescued a wizard kidnapped by bandits and the wizard told him about his destiny (not to be confused with SGU) and how the main character should do what the wizard cant do anymore which is deliver a message to the wizard of the dark tower about the coming war from a savage universe? and the main chararcter with magic revolver goes to dark tower but finds no wizard inside except for a portal to another universe which he steps into? and once he does that he finds himself in even more shittier universe?
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I said everything already in the last thread but yea.<p>Daniel Day Lewis for Roland, Joseph Gordon Levitt, for Eddie, Clint Eastwood for Stephen Deschain,
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from the begging, to show us fans this will be the last time around the wheel for Roland.<p>I have been saying this for years and should be the only way to do it.
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dont come near it. seriously you gotta be insane to even want it. King is weird lets leave it at that.
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you probably will now that i told you not to
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I always wondered if they would break it down in film form. Like Roland and his Ka-Tet now meeting, say Ron Howard as well as King. <p>But yea Roland should have the Horn then they can alter the ending slightly, hell they can even do a Star Trek 09 with it and radically alter the final book's if that's what you want, just don't fuck this up. And get Terry Gilliam to direct at least one movie.
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First NBC, then the powers-that-be behind this, not to mention the fart and fall down the last three books were. I think I'll stick with the A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation going on at HBO.
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When that van hit King (combined with his kicking the cocaine habit), that knocked the story right out of him. He has basically said as much in interviews (and the writer-blocked main character in Bag of Bones is autobiographical, by the way). The problem is, people kept asking him to finish it, when would it be done, etc. Eventually, he got so sick of being harrassed over a story that he had no idea how to finish that he threw his hands up and said "Ok, you want an ending? Ill GIVE you an ending!!" and proceeded to throw up the double bird at all the people who had been bugging him about it for years. I mean, he is literally laughing at the reader, literally, as he writes the "Here comes the Deus Ex Machina!!" part (and the fact that he wrote that line into the book tells you all you need to know.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 8:24 a.m. CST
dont expect it to be better tha the golden compass
by DioxholsterReturns
hollywood aint to good with these things. they are only good at remakes and reboots.
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...as they were in their conviction that Tim "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" Burton and Michael "Mr. Mom" Keaton teaming up absolutely guaranteed that "Batman" would be a lousy, comedic, 1960s style campfest. Just sayin... PAD
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Man, so f'ing good! I just finished the first book and fucking love every bit of it. I usually don't read these sort of books ... but decided to give it a whirl since HBO adapted it... and I am not let down. Too bad HBO couldn't adapt Dark Tower. Would be much more promising than Opie's adaptation. Howard needs to work on getting an Arrested Development on to the big screen, not Dark Tower.
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seriously
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I tried to read The Gunslinger and gave up in less than a hundred pages. About 10 years later I tried it a second time when I found it in a box and, again, got less than a hundred pages into it.<p>For those of you who like this thing I hope you get something good out of it. Goldsman doesn't fill me with hope, but, then again, after years of thinking of Goldsman as a hack I have quite enjoyed his work on Fringe.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 8:30 a.m. CST
there isnt alot out there that compares to Game of Thrones
by DioxholsterReturns
one of those really good books i guess. cant go wrong with Sean Bean right?
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Wizard and Glass<p> http://tinyurl.com/2vtbb5l
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comedic and camp. The Joker pulling a yard long pistol from his pants, for example? Lines like "This town needs an *enema*."<br /><p><br />It just wasn't particularly lousy or grounded in the 1960's.
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or at least one of the movies.
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LOL! That is fun-nay! Guess the 80s and the 90s "cured" me of... something.
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But the news has got me reading 'em again. Will start the first one today and use the next two weeks to get through the rest of 'em.
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A Song of Ice and Fire > The Dark Tower. <p> Discuss?
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That’s the most interesting concept I’ve heard! Perhaps that way the movies/TV show will be able to improve on the original books, especially the last 3 boring books and have a better finale showdown, while at the same time not mess up the continuity of the books. Kind of like JJ star trek. Both a sequel to the existing books and a retelling. It’s a pity Ron Howard is connected to this though, that concept would go right over his head! <p> Its funny that people that have never read the books have no idea what we are on about!
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I think the second book should be the movie. How are they going to show all the heroin useage and all the Detta Walker stuff on NBC? Man the second book was the best in the series in my opinion. Judge Briggs, just wait till the third book in that series, greatness.
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brokeback mountain fantasy work no thank you im sticking to what i know thanks.
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Is the best fantasy series ever written. Yes, better then LOTR. And it isnt even close. Yep, I said it. The idea that the entire Dark Tower series could so much as hold Jon Snow's dick is laughable.
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have you seen the last season? yeah and looked good too, so i have no worries.
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if they had made it into a movie instead of a mini series, i wonder how the world wouldve reacted.
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{Spoilers} As much as I like the whole enchilada that is The Dark Tower I understand alot of people don't like the last few. I myself think alot of Wolves of Calla could be lost, but also alot of the rest should be kept in, I liked Callahans redemption stuff, and when he and Jake rescue Susannah.<p>So I think a nod to Roland having the Horn of Eld at the start of the series, will give them free reign to literally go wild with the end at the very least.<p>And if they go with the 4th wall thing on film, maybe because the stories now being put on film, it's precisly why it's his last time round the wheel, and he will finally get to see Susan in the Clearing at the End of the Path.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 8:54 a.m. CST
RE "Its funny that people that have never read the books have no
by CharyouTree
Yea True lol, but I could say the same with all DioxholsterReturns shit chatting about Stargate..<p>
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Yes, that's right. No Sai King. That has always been the biggest challenge with adapting the series. Dump King's storyline and figure out another way to kill off Jake. It could be as simple as needing to create the Tet corporation to battle Sombra Corp and rescue Susannah in New York in 1999 rather than going back to the 70's. I love Pere Callahan but you can't reference Salem's Lot at all.
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dont worry! Dioxhol has been banging on about that stargate shit for years on almost every talkback. best just to ignore him. just be thankfull The_ChopppahH isnt here! (spelling his name wrong just incase the troll might be running a search on talkbacks) THAT guy is annoying!
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Because it makes perfect sense and everyone here thinks it's a good idea.
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Something of this magnitude can't be pulled off in any way other then a huge HBO series over, say, 5 seasons. Once the first movie bombs because a) it's not an 'easy' franchise movie to sell to the masses, b) it's not a fun movie about superheroes or romance, c) hundreds of other reasons you all already know, the first season will be made because it's already greenlit but from that point on the 2nd movie and thus the rest of the project will have been canned. If Frank Darabont were attached to this I would have been happier 'cause at least we would have gotten one good movie, but the Howard/Goldsman movie is hardly gonna set the world alight, and for this project to see out the ending it really needs to. Don't want to get into the argument of how lame the last 3 books were (I actually loved Wolves of the Calla on first read, as long as it is and what little actually happens within), King was on drugs when he wrote them (and not the good kind, we're talking about painkillers after some asshole drove into him, smashing his hip). Since King got off the drugs he has written his best work since the first half of the '90s.
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isn't over yet, folks. Martin could still King us all with a shitty ending.<p>but yes, so far its better than LOTR and just about anything else out there.
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framed, bolted on a bedroom wall. Dude, that was awesome what he wrote.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 9:23 a.m. CST
The Wind Through the Keyhole.
by ThroughTheBrokenWindowWithDancinDelroyLindo
King is supposedly working on an 8th book for this series, which is supposed to take place between the 4th and 5th. I was hoping that he was going to revise some of the material towards the end, since he apparently referred to the entire series as a "first draft". "Wolves of the Calla" was a pretty boring read, and frustrating after finishing the last book and realizing how much time he spent writing about inconsequential details. Yeah, I know - the joy is in the journey; but there was a lot of nonsense. I actually loved "Song of Susannah", and a great deal of the final "Dark Tower". As most have said, I was let down by the handling of Mordred, Randall Flagg, and the Crimson King. There was potential for some epic stuff there. Hell, I can even swallow Flagg's death at Mordred's hands; but Roland, as a gunslinger, should have at least battled with the Crimson King, and Mordred should have been present there in the field of roses - caught between his two fathers, playing a role in their fates. Mordred was built up so much in "Song of Susannah" and then not given the gravitas he deserved before perishing. Crimson King's "death", though an interesting idea, was also weak. I didn't however have issue with Stephen King appearing in the story or Roland starting his journey all over again - that made sense in context. Oh and I loved the Dandelo section...fucking emotion vampire! Ron Howard seems the wrong choice for this material, but his involvement will at the very least insure hundreds of millions of dollars behind the live-action productions.
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Do it. Do eeeeeeeet.
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Ron Howard is ok but not right for this material. Goldsman is to screenplays what Bret Ratner is to directing.
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so no.
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he's probably too busy with Walking Dead. But gotta be someone like him out there, and not Goldsman/Howard.
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I'm a hug Stargate fan and still haven't mustered the effort to watch the new season. <p> I'm sure it's "OK", but that means that it gets low priority for me. <p> I actually watched Rosanne Season Three instead of SGU the other day. I had the choice, went with John Goodman, and probably had a better time. <p> So Rosanne > SGU. And I'm a SGU fan even. <p> What does this mean for you? >>>>>>>>> BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF AND JUST END IT MAN!
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Finished "Under the Dome" in a week, lent it to a friend who read it even quicker. Couldn't put it down. "Duma Key" is classic King. Loved "The Cell", "Dreamcatcher" was a fun, quick read (great cast, terrible movie), "Black House" was no Talisman, but still great, "From A Buick Eight" was pretty good, I dug the final three tower books ~ can't picture them any other way. I'm just so grateful he's alive I guess... Hope he has another forty books in him...
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in high school. Then never resumed the series...too long in between. I think I may have read the 4th. Was that the one about the train?
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maybe its best not to, like have it unfinished, leaves future generations to re imagine its endings in different ways.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 10:52 a.m. CST
If your'e going to make it hire Josh Brolin.
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
He could redeem himself from Jonah Hex, and go back to No Countrying it.
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I smell a Lawnmower Man.
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. . . then King, or at least some DT guru like whoever wrote the comics, better be all J.K.Rowling on their asses and have final say in everything. And Lord knows he hasn't given a rat's ass w/ so many past adaptations. A MAJORITY of them. Sorry, no confidence whatsoever in this. I predict one movie and one series. That's it. Golden Compass. . .
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This material does not belong in the hands of a gee whiz shucky darn boring director like Ron Howard, nor his built in sparkheaded producer or his write by the numbers scribe. Sorry Akiva, you will NEVER be forgiven for Batman and Robin. This would have been perfect in the hands of JJ Abrams and Darlton. I saw elements of The Dark Tower in every season of Lost especially the final one. They couldn't crack it? More like their schedules are booked solid for years to come! You want to do this right? Get the team who made HBO's Deadwood and have them set upon The Tower. I've been rewatching that series and it's grit, powerful characters and compelling stories are the perfect mold to pour King's opus into. An NBC series!? You gotta be fucking kidding me! This belongs ONLY on HBO or Starz where the beyond R material can be properly produced. This has disaster all over it.
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. . . were reading all this right now.
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Because, you know, imminent mortality. I think he just wanted to be free of it, in a way. He wrote the last three books like a hasty escape plan more than a careful exit strategy. I still love them.<p>This mix of feature film and tv season is weird. I don't really trust it, or the people involved. I don't think Ron Howard is enough of a grown-up. I don't think Goldsman is capable of adapting the right bits in the right way. I don't think NBC is a competent partner. I am deeply suspicious of how sustainable a project that stretches itself out over two very, very different formats can be, especially without creating a huge tonal difference or a complete whitewashing of the series.<p>I reserve the right to be pleasantly surprised. People said LOTR was un-adaptable and lo. So maybe. Except, New Line took a huge fucking risk, and no one involved so far seems to be the brave, risky type.
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Fucking just don't say shit like that because now I think he would make a perfect, perfect Roland and it will never, ever happen. Jerk.
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Gee, ya think that stupid spider kid wasnt given the gravitas he deserved? What, you mean dying while shitting his pants over eating bad food wasnt quite what you had in mind? I dont even care how lame and stupid that was, because Mordred didnt deserve any better. The entire series, from the very first line in the very first book, was about the final confrontation between the MIB and Roland. Mordred only came along when King started pulling stuff out of his ass and had no idea where to go with the story. He was a terrible, lame idea to begin with, so its only fitting that his death was laughably lame and stupid.
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...once described Ron Howard as 'Steven Spielberg without any of the good bits'. Still makes me laugh.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 11:12 a.m. CST
To everyone complaining about the series from book 4
by NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks
GO FUCK YOURSELVES! It's Kings story, not fuckin all you assholes who never wrote anything but shit on a fuckin talkback. Until one of you ADHD Muthafuckers writes a 7000 page fantasy that includes and revolves around your entire life's work, you can just crawl up in the corner and die slowly whilst being forced to read books by Dean Koontz and Dan Fuckin Brown. By the end as your eyeballs are pierced by your own fingers, plopping them softly onto your laps, you may then understand his accomplishment. ... <p> Probably not though you fuckin failed abortions.... <p> You'll just die blind, full of both literary and actual excrement without any knowledge of how little you actually know and how little you will be missed. etc etc.......
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Sept. 9, 2010, 11:18 a.m. CST
ive already written my epic trilogy called "Forged Earth"
by DioxholsterReturns
it centers around a dude with a mustache who explores planets and stuff and gets some on the side. oh and he kills the evil masked guy. the end.
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Roland is supposed to be a weathered old cowboy. Viggo Mortenson would be great.Edited TV would ruin this. Where would the symmetry be between the movie and the NBC fagfest. All theater or hbo.Howard and grazer suck; totally unimaginative. Someone edgy like Aronofsky or how about Takashi mikke?
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Sept. 9, 2010, 11:20 a.m. CST
King's cocaine dealer was a hero to all his fans
by DioxholsterReturns
without the supplier, King wouldve written crap his whole life.
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the only one who thinks he'd be perfect. Maybe one day Hollywood will actually listen to the fanboys.
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about the Dark Tower? people act like it's the Holy Bible. the whole thing pretty much goes off the rails by Book 6. but the last really good one was Book 3. And I was right there reading them as they came out too... not AFTER Book 3, but after Book 1, when no one knew it would be King's "LOTR." I actually think King was making a blatant bid for legacy-building instead of focusing on writing a great yarn.
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He's perfect, and Johah Hex and "W" shows he'll do anything. But to be honest, as a DT fan, I would rather see Viggo - but he's just too much like Roland to make the heartland watch it.
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I know he's a bit old for the part. But when I read the books I've always imagined him as Eddie, and Johnny Depp mixed with Clint Eastwood for Roland.
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but think he'll be in the running due to his physicality and look-and I can picture him as a gunslinger-type character. Squint hard enough and he has some Eastwood-esque features as well, notably the eyes. Thoroughly enjoyed Wizard and Glass and Wastelands. I cant read of the Tick Tock Man and not picture Dolph Lundgren circa "Masters of the Universe"-dude was a friggin' Viking come to life. And for some reason, ALWAYS pictured Billy Drago as Flagg/Man in Black throughout the Tower series. Although if you really wanna scare the shit out of an audience, cast Tommy Wiseau. In fact, since he didnt get his chance as the Joker, Mr. Nolan, audition Wiseau for The Riddler (though maybe Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the running after working in "Inception"?) for an absolutely menacing villain-for-the-ages.
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in their stories, only that he wrote Batman And Robin and Lost In Space. The man is an Oscar winning writer when paired with Ron Howard. There are alot worse hands this could be in.<p>Also, this is a weird story. Three theatrical films with full tv seasons done in between each? Has that ever been attempted before?
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So would work, although have to say, King regular Tim Daly could do it as well. Milo "HEROES' guy for Dean. Not sure about Jake. This had better be great. QUINT I am 100 percent in the same boat as you. Discovered in elementary school. Was scared to read the last book...didn't want it to end.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 12:08 p.m. CST
the HORN better be there from the start, break the 4th Wall
by Stormwatcher
Quickest way to win over fans. Give us a new ending. God give us a better fight in WOlves of the Calla. Give us ANthony Hopkins in Book 7. Give us GLORY dammit
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As Eddie, circa Less Than Zero.
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It is King's story, your right......until he decided to publish it and profit off sales of the book. At that point, the fans' opinion of the goings-on becomes a factor. If he just wants to write for himsefl, then simple: dont publish it. Write the book and throw it in a drawer somewhere, never to be seen again.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 12:19 p.m. CST
TurquoiseNapalm... I mentioned Billy Drago before
by NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks
just as Eldred Jonas. He has that cowhide look. <p> For Flagg, I'm thinking John Cusack. He could fuckin nail it.
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...based on how the books were. Book 1. Directed by the same people who make educational safety videos for the workplace. Yawn. Book 2. Scorcese. Best of the Bunch. Set the bar high. Book 3. Spielberg all the way. Tons of fantasy and imagination but unfortunately most of it is retarded ala giant robot bears and nursery ryhming talking choo choo train. Yep. You heard that right. Book 4. Anyone who has directed a bad chic flick on the Lifetime Channel. A opus dedicated to anyone who has ever worn a tampoon. Book 5. Ed Woods corpse, although Ed Wood is too good for the material to be honest. Book 6. Irwin Allens corpse. Why? Because. Just because. Book 7. Gary Busby's directoral debut, to be shot live on the set of 'Tool Academy.' There. Thats the way these books roll. In other words, theyre about as sacred as the image of Stalin seen in a mouse turd.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 12:21 p.m. CST
Kurt Russell would be a gooooood Roland.
by NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks
better than Viggo.
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LOVE THE IDEA of film, tv show,film,tv show,etc. BRILLIANT, IF it happens.At the same time, I HATE THE IDEA of Akiva and HOWARD.Bring back Lindelof and Abrams!!! PLEASE
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Whaafuck my damie.... Shiii......... Stephen King gonna sign your name onda runny kine.....
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well off to bed to prbably be kicked back out to the couch if I snore...
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good dog.. <p> San Dimas High School Football Rules!!!!
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no you hang up.....
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intriguing...I must have missed that. Yeah, something about Drago is unsettling and menacing, and I can see him as Eldred-kind of sickly but deadly as hell. Cusack isn't an obvious choice to me but now I'm thinking about it and his ability to be droll and his comedic timing, & how he could employ those qualities. Interesting...
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Worst casting suggestion ever. I can't think of ANYONE less suited to play Roland than Josh Brolin. His look and personality are all wrong for that part. Roland is supposed to be tall, lean, weathered and wise. Brolin just wears cowboy hats a lot, that's why you have that in your head. Roland isn't a cowboy, he's a gunslinger.
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The man is part of the King Film Universe anyway. <p> I just think if anyone could pull it off, menacing and offbeat charming with a dash of large ego, it's Cusack.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 12:35 p.m. CST
Sorry about the grammar, or whatever...
by NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks
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...be used as material for the TV series? It seems the TV version will deal heavily with the story of young Roland, and your recent series did a great job of filling in that part of his story.
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After the coat-hanger abortions of books 5-7, Ron Howard is free to alter, screw up, and generally take a gigantic shit all over this series. He really can't fuck it up any worse than King already did to it. Fuck King and his self-referential, self-insertion garbage. He he had to tell the story about his fucking car accident in 3 different books and one TV series for christ's sake.
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I live in Sarasota and Stephen King has a home here on Casey Key that is pretty secluded...basically his own personal island. He actually based his novel Duma Key on the area and used actual landmarks...pretty damn cool if you live here. The Funny thing is there is this guy that drives around town with a van that has graphics and text around it saying "Stephen King Killed John Lennon" "Expose the Truth". He actually showed up at a city council meeting demanding that this be investigated. Hilarious!!! Check out his website: www.lennonmurdertruth.com Here is a link to his city council meeting: http://www.inquisitr.com/18472/man-tells-city-meeting-stephen-king-killed-john-lennon/ Poor Steve has to put up with this whacko...
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or, if they wish to go younger...JIM CAVIZEL.Viggo is a great actor, jim is so-so.But they both have the "look" I envision of Roland.
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As my username suggests, I am a huge Dark Tower fan and an equally massive Stephen King fan. Like Quint, I too am apprehensive about those involved. Ron Howard's films are fine, I actually kinda dig The Da Vinci Code and Willow is just awesome nostalgic fun but he does make safe films and the Dark Tower series doesn't want to be a safe film, as stated. The stories are action-packed but subtle, scary and romantic and highly risque. Whatever happens, whoever makes these films, the fact remains that everything that happens within the books that make the reader take a breath and think, "whoa, am I actually reading this", needs to be in the films because it is those precise moments that make TDT and, indeed, Stephen King so deft. So, Mr Howard and Mr Goldsman, read the material constantly until you know it so you can recite the paragraphs verbatim. Then read them again. And again. And again. Cos' boy does this series deserve it...
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It's time for him to expand his acting roles. Let's see him play a recovering junkie on the gunslinger 12-step program.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 1:18 p.m. CST
After seeing both Hildago and No Country I still
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
choose Brolin for Roland. However as Viggo has played Satan, and done it extremely well he'd be perfect as the man in black.
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which restores my faith a little.
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Duma Key is one property that deserves to be made into a movie, King at the top of his game and perfectly paced for a film adaptation.
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While I respect the Dark Tower as a whole, I lost interest as of book four. I love the Gunslinger though. My concerns with Howard on the project are for the very reasons Quint outlined, Ron plays it way too safe and this isn't a series that can play it safe. I hope Tom Hanks is not cast as Roland (he's so miscast in the Dan Brown adaptations) and I hope that Howards' pacing and sense of urgency and suspense are ratched up several notches. Angels and Demons could have been a great movie if the urgency were more readily apparent and someone else played Langdon. That I think it would have made a fabulously messed up giallo by Dario Argento or Sergio Martino is another thread all together. As far as King, I haven't read much of his post accident material so I can't comment on that. I really hope that he has a lot of input with Howard, Imagine and Uni because it would be a shame to see such an achievement be flushed down the toilet as the Brown books have been. Not really a fan of Brown's writing but I'm taking about how Ron Howard's playing it safe was a great detriment to these films.
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Tim Roth...you know this to be true.
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I dunno, lacks the.....gravitas, or "cool" factor for me that Roland demands. He always brings integrity to his roles, but the template of Leone-era Eastwood will be hard to replicate if thats the route chosen. Same for Day-Lewis which I've seen mentioned as Roland. Almost like casting Bond-you can find tough/cool/suave actors but one with all of those traits combined is harder.
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I picture Bentley Mitchum as Eddie, son (or grandson?) of Robert and occasional thespian who received subdued yet great acclaim for his role as the petulant and romantically tortured camp counselor in Meatballs 4. Or Corey Feldman as Eddie, who incidentally was also in Meatballs 4. Or Stephen Dorff, who wasn't. Or was he....? Hmmmmmnnnn....
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...any and all Dark Tower films and/or television projects should be motion captured CG. This would solve a multitude of problems, everything from Jake being mostly the same age throughout the series to the appearance of both young and older versions of Stephen King. Also, in my mind no one actor can personify Roland, he is a combination of Clint Eastwood, Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen but much more weathered and rugged. Live action is a bad choice for these books, full CG could bring so much to these films, as well as making them feel otherworldly and iconic.
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to get The Walking Dead rolling, then he could have handed the reins over to a competent showrunner before moving onto adapting The Dark Tower. And of course, the TV series portion would be a perfect Walking Dead companion for AMC.
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Ah come on... a cowboy with a New Yorker pushing a black legless chick in a wheelchair down a sandy beach with floating doors and giant lobsters?? That won't come off silly at all ;)
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Seems like he's my first choice to direct DT. I heard he's been wanting to do a western and I've always thought that he would be a good fit for a King adaptation. King dialogue with a Tarantino spin would be priceless.
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No... Just... no.
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It's in the first Dark Tower book, the crazy preacher lady who was impregnated by the man in black.
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stop-motion animation version of the Dark Tower series for IFC Channel. His pitch was chosen over Ralph Bakshi's.
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Sept. 9, 2010, 3:32 p.m. CST
I'm gonna make the early "are you crazy?" casting call predicito
by Somerichs
and predict they pick Keanu Reeves as Roland... :)
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The perfect solution to lighten up his recent image - sex with a demon succubus. Worked with Ron Howard. Lil face stubble. Blue eyes. Gets to co-star with a crazy black. Aces.
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would do the drawing of the three justice.
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Viggo was pretty cool in GI Jane.
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Ashton Kutcher. You know it's inevitable.
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If you have any faith in a TV network casting this. Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe and Parker Lewis for christ's sake! This is destined to be cast with a bunch of B-list has-beens. The thought of Drawing of the Three being done on network TV is nauseating.
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No? So, Ron Howard is the man I guess.
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I've read quite a few of his earlier works and a few of his more recent books. I've loved two, The Stand and The Shining, kind of liked It and Needful Things(god those endings were atrocious), and pretty much hated everything else. The guy can't write an ending to save his life. I avoided this series because I didn't want to invest time in something that I know will seriously disappoint me at the end. Not that this adaptation sounds all that intriguing, but I think I will just watch it instead of emotionally investing so much time in something that I have heard falls apart during the last three books. Been burned by King enough. That's just my opinion.
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I have yet to see GI Jane- I'll have to check it out. I did like his understated performance in "Appaloosa" and think he's definitely Western-genre appropriate. But still having trouble envisioning him as Roland, who's gruff, tall and imposing and definitely a charismatic presence. But I'll look into GI Jane. Thanks.
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He was always who I imagined, especially if you see his stony performance in Last of the Mohicans.
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so the third movie will be CALLA, SUSANNAH and DARK TOWER, all 3 books in ONE MOVIE???? how is that supposed to work?
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Really? That has to be about the dumbest fucking idea. Either make them all R-Rated Movies, 3 hours each with extended versions or make each book a season on HBO or Showtime, but Movie/Season/Movie/Season/Movie/Season/Movie is just fucking dumb. Wizard and Glass would throw most people if it were just a movie, but doing it as a season of a tv show? I think that will completely derail shit, not that it is a bad story, because it is fucking great, but because it is out of left field. Who thought this would be a good idea? Fuck this ruined my day. I pray this works out amazingly, but am extremely doubtful.
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I'm not thrilled with Howard, but QT is just as wrong. The DT series is not about being "cool", which is pretty much what every QT film is about.
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It's more of a crime story, anyway. Plus, Tarantino could rework a lot of the shameful stereotypical dialogue King wrote for Odetta.
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with Book 3.
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Frank Darabont. Might as well have put f'ing Mick Garris in charge again!
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...that Ron Howard has actually made some good films in his career. Garris can't even claim one good film for his entire run. Also, I'll reiterate: QT would be a horrible choice for any of the DT films, his style is just all wrong. I'm not saying Howard is perfect for the job, far from it. I'm just saying it would take a filmmaker with a unique vision to pull the whole thing off right.
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He asked Stephen King if he could do The Dark Tower a while ago, but King wouldn't let him because he has already spent so much time adapting his stories<P> “Frank did come to me, and I know Frank from before either one of us had a pot to piss in. Frank said, ‘Gee, I’d like to do Dark Tower.’ I said, ‘Frank, give me a break! You’ve got The Mist, The Monkey. You’ve got the prison stories. … Stop putting so much on your plate!’” Read more: Stephen King confirms The Dark Tower Movie | /Film http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/02/26/stephen-king-confirms-the-dark-tower-movie/#ixzz0z57ylzRp
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Jackie Brown is the only movie of his I don't like.
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Desperation and The Shining are good.<P> Sleepwalkers was terrible.<P> The Stand was terrific.<P> Amazing Stories was good as was his work on Masters of Horror and Fear Itself
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Sam Rockwell would be great in that role. He's got the range to go from strung-out junkie to joker to bad-ass gunslinger. Plus he resembles the character in my head.
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... and got to about page 10. The style of writing was so overblown it was embarassing. I couldn't stomach a whole book's worth of that.
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You must have seen different versions of Desperation and The Stand. And I'm sure you're thinking of Kubrick's The Shining. :)
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<p>The approach they are taking, Ron Howard at the helm, Goldsman with pen in hand. These all do not bode well for a beloved series of the great gunslinger Roland.</p> <p>BUT. As a fan boy, I can't help but throw my picks into the ring.</p> <p>Roland: I like the above suggestion for Lupidus.. I mean Jeff Fahey. Eddie: Ian Sommerhalder. Odetta: Rhianna. (what the heck. Why not.) The voice of Blaine: Maurice LaMarche (who does a phenomenal Orson Welles impression). Randall Flagg: Jamey Sheridan.</p>
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Jamey Sheridan already failed once as Flagg, why would you want him back? My way out of left field pick for Flagg: Paul Reubens.
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They should go all the way and make it a black re-imagining like Who's Your Caddy, The Honeymooners, or Black Death at a Funeral. Think about it! Cedric the Entertainer as Roland, Chris Rock as Eddie, Queen Latifah as Susannah, Will Smith's spawn as Jake, and a pitbull or something racist as Oy! Why is everyone looking at me like that?
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i think you meant Adrian Paul?
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last comment not a question
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yeah, i'm with the guy that makes a living contributing to an internet blog, that ron howard is a hack!
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Roland: Michael Fassbender<br /> <br /> Eddie: Aaron Paul. (I tried to think of someone different and this is totally typecasting. But I just can't think of anyone better. He's perfect.)<br /> <br /> Susannah: Rutina Wesley<br /> <br /> Randall Flagg: Russell Crowe
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Hell yeah! Directed by F. Gary Gray! And produced by Ice Cube/Bow Wow! Soundtrack featuring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Parliament Funkadelic and the B-52's! Wait, wha?!?
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Would need to get back in shape for sure and I'm not sure what he looks like now either clean shaven or with a much shorter beard
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No offense (really), but with the possible exception of Lara San Giacomo as Nadine, that was the worst of several bad casting decisions on The Stand. Utterly horrible as The Walkin' Dude...
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Michael
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i thought sheridan was terrific as the man in black
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with the Billy Ray Cyrus on Steroids mullet? He wasn't scary or menacing in the least...
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I'm sure he would do a great job, but his talents lie in his ability to show strength and weakness. Roland has no weakness, he's more of a force of nature. He doesn't have a lot of background emotion either-that's the job of the other characters. I still think Josh Brolin's performance in No Country is what you're looking for. Someone who doesn't know if they have what it takes to get the job done, but that in no way stops them from doing the job without thinking twice.
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The one person who can do douchebag wiseass drug addict without being over the top, and still remaining likeable.
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Get to the point!!! Why is every post a fucking review of the writer's life????!!!
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Seriously. When?
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He could be awesome.
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Joseph Gordon Levitt. Do it.
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There are 1600 reviews on Amazon. 1200 are 5 star. 170 are one or two star, and of those, more then half got that rating because the kindle version is a train wreck. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's just you on this one. Not that theres anything wrong with that, but just realize your opinion is in the vast vast minority. Like, Grand Canyon vast. Like, All Alone Island, population: you.
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because it's villain is awesome, hero is awesome and great story. doesn't matter who directs it.
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Bastard's still a gravel-voiced badass, and he never got the right lead role to claim as his own. This is damn perfect for him.
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Sept. 10, 2010, 12:11 a.m. CST
As for Flagg.... you know you'll love it: MEL GIBSON
by 5_day_forecast
Bow down and think big. That could be awesome.
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imagine the grinch in a cowboy hat.
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You've made good points but they haven't swayed me it all. I still would like to see Tarantino's version. He may be an unconventional choice but it would put my ass in the seat. The only other director that would do it for me is Lynch. Do ya kennit?
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good series but id much rather see the comic preacher on screen, or bone or scud:the disposable assassin. (those last two will never happen but a man can dream, right?)
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Sure, he isnt a big name, and his acting can be suspect sometimes... but if there is one thing he is perfect at is this type of role. <br> <br> Roland: Timothy Olyphant Eddie: Michael Pitt Flagg: Ian McShane
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he's a better Flagg than Roland.
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But I also like the Timothy Olyphant call. Anyone see him in A Perfect Getaway? Guy was awesome!
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It's every day in THE_CHOPPAH house.
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Some good sugestions but Guy Pierce would be sooo perfect for Roland. Think about it. Also, how about Jonathan Tucker for Eddie. Not too shabby.
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When casting Roland you need to think grit. Michael Wincott was a good suggestion. Too bad Stephen McHattie wasn't a little younger, because his look and mannerisms are perfect for Roland.
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it could be a LOT worse than Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman, it could be someone like Stephen fucking Sommers or Rob Cohen
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I wonder if that means there'll be a Dark Tower ride one day?
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Now you too can experience letting a boy fall to his death while having obscenities screamed at you by an animatronic wheelchair bound black woman! It would be cool if the ride plunged into an abyss if the participants weren't able to solve a riddle in the allotted time.
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My review of the entire series of novels, published by RevolutionSF a while back: http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=3355
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http://tinyurl.com/2effxs4
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