Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. First Fallout 4 is teased and now a new update on the fate of the Film/TV adaptation of The Dark Tower... It's starting to feel like the world is revolving around my own personal fetishes.
Ka is a wheel and apparently so is this adaptation that just won't die. It keeps turning and turning and turning and this time it looks like a very left field choice is up for the director's chair.
Sony is now developing the combo TV series and film series and apparently their top choice to helm is Nikolaj Arcel, known mostly for co-writing the screenplay for the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. He has directed before. His A Royal Affair was nominated for an Oscar, so it's not all that crazy he's being considered to direct.
Mike Fleming at Deadline says that the deal is being worked on for Arcel to direct The Gunslinger and rewrite Goldsman's latest draft, which can only be a good thing.
Fleming also says that one of the reasons the studio is so keen on Arcel is that he's a massive King fan and even credits King's work with being the main driving force behind him learning English... because he wanted to read King's stuff in the original language!
Fan service is expected on most potential franchises, but it's crucial for The Dark Tower. Whomever takes on this one has to be totally fluent in all of King's work because they all co-exist due in large part to this series. Little bits and pieces from everything he's ever done appear in the Dark Tower in some way, shape or form.
I've actually spoken with a source who read Goldsman's last draft they informed me that it wasn't as far off the mark as I had feared, but they did say he did a rather awkward job condensing the events of the first three books into one script. They also told me my long-standing advice on how to crack the adaptation was actually put into the script: Roland did start out with the Horn of Eld. Readers will know what that means and why it's crucial to any adaptation of the material.
My only advice to Mr. Arcel is to be confident in the audience. Let them go on the adventure with Roland and embrace the mystery. Don't over-explain in the first 10 minutes and trust in this being the first chapter of a story told longform.
Ron Howard, Goldsman and King himself are still on as producers. What do you folks think?
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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