Do you guys remember all that story about Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower book series? We guess you do, but today, we have a little update on that one.
J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot production company, which has long sought to crack Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series as a television series, no longer has the rights to one of the author's biggest properties! But don't worry, there are already new names involved in the whole thing…
So, Bad Robot has returned the rights to the best-selling author, and now Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman are teaming up to tackle the fantasy Western.
Yes, guys from Bad Robot, who have long held the rights, seemed to be the perfect folks to do it, since they've juggled the many characters and multiple storylines of Lost for years. But, their plans for a Dark Tower TV series won't come to fruition, as the rights have just reverted back to King.
To be honest, we had a chance to hear this official report: “The three are in discussions on a scenario that would see an adaptation begin as a movie, to be written by Goldsman and directed by Howard, that would lead to a TV series produced by Imagine's small-screen division.
Tower is not set up, nor has any option deal been made, but insiders say Universal, home to Imagine, would be the studio that will release the movie.”
For those who aren't familiar with the whole thing, let us remind you that, The Dark Tower is Stephen's response to The Lord of the Rings.
Begun in 1982, it tells the story of Roland Deschain, an enigmatic figure who exists in a world quite separate from ours, yet much the same. He is the only survivor of a secret order known as ‘Gunslingers,' and is engaged in a quest to locate the Dark Tower, in which, according to legend he will find the singular key to both this and all other universes.
Does that sound like something that would be awesome to watch on a big screen? We guess it does, and that's why we're expecting to hear more detailed info about it, since, let's add, there's no date for release, or even a shortlist for the cast yet. If you're interested too, stay tuned for updates!Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Movie Adaptation
Do you guys remember all that story about Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower book series? We guess you do, but today, we have a little update on that one.
J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot production company, which has long sought to crack Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series as a television series, no longer has the rights to one of the author's biggest properties! But don't worry, there are already new names involved in the whole thing…
So, Bad Robot has returned the rights to the best-selling author, and now Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman are teaming up to tackle the fantasy Western.
Yes, guys from Bad Robot, who have long held the rights, seemed to be the perfect folks to do it, since they've juggled the many characters and multiple storylines of Lost for years. But, their plans for a Dark Tower TV series won't come to fruition, as the rights have just reverted back to King.
To be honest, we had a chance to hear this official report: “The three are in discussions on a scenario that would see an adaptation begin as a movie, to be written by Goldsman and directed by Howard, that would lead to a TV series produced by Imagine's small-screen division.
Tower is not set up, nor has any option deal been made, but insiders say Universal, home to Imagine, would be the studio that will release the movie.”
For those who aren't familiar with the whole thing, let us remind you that, The Dark Tower is Stephen's response to The Lord of the Rings.
Begun in 1982, it tells the story of Roland Deschain, an enigmatic figure who exists in a world quite separate from ours, yet much the same. He is the only survivor of a secret order known as ‘Gunslingers,' and is engaged in a quest to locate the Dark Tower, in which, according to legend he will find the singular key to both this and all other universes.
Does that sound like something that would be awesome to watch on a big screen? We guess it does, and that's why we're expecting to hear more detailed info about it, since, let's add, there's no date for release, or even a shortlist for the cast yet. If you're interested too, stay tuned for updates!
16 Comments
Much like all of you, when I learned that there was talk of a Dark Tower adaptation for film, I was at first extremely excited. That was about a year ago now.
Now, I just can’t see it happening, no way in Hell no thank you. Someone needs to talk Stephen King out of handing over his life’s work and masterpiece to the likes of Hollywood. I have seen too many other movies which had really good acclaim completely bomb, many of them being adapted from books.
The big wigs in tinseltown will rip through this work of art, gut it out and rebuild on it’s foundation until we can’t recognize it anymore. Some books, some stories are just too good or too beautiful (or both) to have their insides hollowed out and filled with something lighter rather than staying heavy with deep meaning and feeling.
Maybe that’s just me, but I’m sure people are going to start agreeing with the idea that this story is just too precious and epic to be torn open, pulled inside out and thrown onto a screen. In the event that The Dark Tower is made and released to theaters or, god unwilling, television then I’ll have to go and see it.
Contradictive to my point, I know. But God help me, I want nothing more than to see the ‘territories’ I want to explore Mid-World and End-World. In Eddie Dean’s words in The Waste Lands, Book 3 of The Dark Tower
“I want to see it Roland. Can you dig what I’m telling you? I want to see the Tower.”
Or in Jake Chambers’ words
“And that’s the truth”
What I mean to say is, isn’t reading the books and now graphic novels enough? What are our imaginations for anyway if we never use them?
All of us King fans should be happy, lucky, blessed enough that Mr. King even got to finish his masterpiece which is The Dark Tower. For those of you old enough to remember (most likely all of you) Mr. King was in a near fatal car accident some years ago. He almost didn’t get to finish The Dark Tower. Where would we all be today if he had died? Ultimately, we would be left with a void in our lives. We’d be left wondering if Roland and his friends, his ka-tet ever reach the Tower because The Dark Tower would have never been finished.
If you fellow fans care enough even one iota about The Dark Tower, then we can all speak out against it being adapted to film. We can’t let hollywood have it’s way with a story as epic or masterful as this. We mustn’t allow hollywood to reach The Dark Tower.
If Ron Howard directs it, do we have to watch Tom Hanks in yet another overly serious role, where he simply doesn’t fit in?
The greatest obstacle that any film studio would face is taking all of the internal dialouge that is vital to the plot, and applying it in a way that makes it suitable for the big screen. Look at Detta Walker, or the events in The Drawing Of The Three, and Jake’s solo quest around New York in The Waste Lands. I honestly feel that so much of this would be lost in translation, the plot would have to be totally reworked in order for a modern audience to appreciate it.
As I write this, I recall my disbelief when reading the first chapter of Drawing… where Roland looses his right fingers to the lobstrosity. Part of what attracted me to Roland’s tale was that he seemed invincable, traversing the desert on a single canteen of water, taking on the demon in the ring. For him to loose his fingers was devestating, and it made me question King’s direction with the story. Ofcourse this worked out to drive the narrative in such a way that I feel a kinship with the ka tet of nineteen that I don’ t with other characters (except maybe Rorschach in Watchmen, and Commander Vimes from the Discworld series). Is it possible that a cinematic audience could revolt against such a brutal mutalation so early on? It may seem trivial, so let me put it another way, would a cinematic audience flock in droves in Indiana Jones had a peg leg?
In anticapation of an obvious parralell, Luke Skywalker got a robot hand at the end of Empire. This replacement means that in watching Jedi you only see an elevation in his status due to dillangent practice and honing if his arts. The removel of his hand offers little in the way of plot development, and would barely be noticable had it been left on the cutting room floor.
I am such a geek
I dunno. I think him losing his fingers is pretty important. He was dying from infection. He NEEDED Eddie. I would think a character like Roland would have left Eddie to his fate if he were healthy.
I have read this series more times than I can count. I love this masterpiece. I have been anxiously waiting on a film. I do however think they should take their time, and make sure it is done correctly. Deep down I think they will destroy the beauty of the story, and the beauty of of characters, but I know when and if it does come out either in theatres or on TV I will not be able to convince myself not to watch. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed, and hope they do not completely destroy it.
I agree that the internal dialogue, and some scenes just won’t work in a visual format. While reading the drawing of the three and roland entering peoples minds, I kept thinking that this makes making these into a movie nearly impossible. It would be too weird to try and film it in a way that doesn’t look cheesy or corny. I mean imagine roland sitting in a black area that is Eddies mind bringing a popkin back through the door. I just don’t see it working.
I’ll admit I’m worried, but I REALLY want to watch it. I might do nothing more but complain, but I’ve been itching for this since I first heard about it.
If they could do the dark tower series like The Stand was done… nearly verbatum for the book it would be awesome.
One thing that really ticked me off about the stand is they swapped the time at which larry underwood met nadine with lucy swann and swann was accompanied by joe rather than nadine… wtf was the point of doin that? hopefully if they make a dark tower adaptation they do it in SIX movies so that they can include enough information to at least be on par with the book a little bit. understandably some details will have to be left out though.
When I first heard this news, I was like many of you… excited to see my absolute favorite tale of all time realized on the big screen, and then terrified of what will ACTUALLY become of it in the claws of (yes, CLAWS of) the demon named Hollywood. And then when I heard of the possibility of it becoming a TV series, I was torn again by the possibility of the potential for something outstanding vs. the almost inevitable reality of it being destroyed.
After some thought, I do think it could work VERY well as a TV series ONLY if it is done by the likes of HBO and those who work on such series as True Blood, Rome, and a number of others. It seems THIS particular platform would allow for the series to have more room, leeway and flexibility to TRULY represent what it should be.
Just my 2 cents…
I think this needs to be done much like the stand. A seven (eight if they include the book King is rumored to be working on now which takes place between wizard and glass and wolves of the calla) made for tv movies shown as a mini series. If it goes to hollywood it will be gutted into a trilogy because no one will want to commit to a seven movie series. All though apposed to NBC CBS or even SYFY I would prefer this to be done on HBO so it can be produced untouched by sensors.
I Can Relate And Feel All Of Your Comments But Stephens Made For T.V. Movies Dont Do That Well If They Make Feature Films They Should Do All Seven Or None We All Know That It Can Be Done Look At Hary Potter Lord Of The Rings An The Blah Twilight Series People Love The Antisipation Much Like The Books You Cant Wait To Find Out What Happens Next Dont Get Me Wrong I Dont Think They Should Do It At All But If They Do They Have To Do It Right Ron Howard Is A Good Director But I Dont Think Hes The Right One For This Story How About CLINT EASTWOOD Man That Would Be Cool Be Even Cooler If He Was Still Young Then He Could Play Roland Onscreen
Yeah, I agree with the whole Eastwood thing and would have make a great character for Roland. Although, I feel George Lucas and Stephen King would make a better combo. I mean damn, look at the Star Wars trilogys and in THX. I feel it would bring people to the theatres. If only there was another John Wayne/Clint Eastwood type to fill this role. I would go on the record and say this gross on this movie or movies would be staggering.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1B8a1BcroA
Just thought you would all like to see this trailer for the movie……. I hope its good when its finished! Movies are never as good as the book, but i am excited to see it, so I am! I am on the 4th book, Wizard and Glass, and I’m loving every minute of the series so far. I have been a King fan since I was a youngster and have read most all of his books, and this is by far my all time favorite. May your days be long upon the earth…..
I want to see the film adaptation(s)–movie, miniseries, or a combination of the two that was mentioned as a possibility in the article. After all, even though Tolkien’s written work was better (naturally… great books are ALWAYS better than film), the movies were obviously made REALLY well. So there’s a possibility that the Dark Tower series could be done properly, as well. There’s a big ‘HOWEVER’ to this though… Ron “the hack” Howard does not need to be involved in any shape or form with this project. He’s such a generic director… he needs to stick with stories like ‘Splash’ (cute little movies). Why not get a guy like, oh say… Frank Darabont? You know… ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘The Green Mile’, and now ‘The Walking Dead’? The first two of these examples were film adaptations of King works, BTW–and the two best that there have been, PERIOD. Or you could try and recruit another proven winner, and someone who has experience bringing sprawling fictional worlds to life (but maybe a “too obvious” choice)–Peter Jackson. Good luck with that, though… I’ve heard he stays pretty busy these days!
If they ever do make the film, i hope they at least try to stay as true to the story and characters as possible. like Roland, i believe he should be played by hugh laury from house. But all in all, the story is too beautiful in its symbolism, story and artistry to be gutted and put onto the screen where most likely the producers wont even be remotely close to everything reflected in the story.