The Dark Tower Movie(s)

[Colonel Sanders]

So, I've read this series twice and always feared the day it would be made into a movie. That's because with rare exception, Stephen King books have been made into either terrible movies or TV series. For the former, the original Carrie movie and Kubrick's version of The Shining were the exceptions. For the latter, Storm of the Century was actually pretty decent.

The rest all sucked, especially including the latest vile dog fart that was Under the Dome.

And now comes The Gunslinger... and he's gonna be a black guy (Idris Elba).

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/...ba-as-the-gunslinger-in-the-dark-tower-movie/

Now, before you start with the "Colonel Sanders is a racist motherfucker" comments, I'm willing to give it a chance. Hell, I have to. And I hope it goes great.

But this sounds like yet another ill-conceived idea by a couple of Hollywood douchebags who, not smart enough to simply go with the source material, got coked up one night and decided this would be a good choice. And if you look at the pics in the link, you can see that they don't even have Idris Elba attired properly (yes, I'm in full on nerd mode about this----his goddamn gun belts should be criss-crossed).

In case you haven't read the books, here's a little character background. Roland Deschain is the main character. Through 7 books, Roland is a white guy and stated by King many times over that he looks like Clint Eastwood with "blue bombardier's eyes." Within the story is another important character, Odetta Walker, a black woman who was crippled by white thugs in the 1960s. It's more complicated than that, but suffice it to say that part of the running conflict of the story is between Odetta, Roland being white, and the fact that Odetta's alter ego character, Susanna takes up with a white guy. If you've read it, you know the deal. And again, through the vast majority of the series, these relationships are heavily in play.

So what the fuck are they going to do with this now? It just smacks of inevitable disappointment. And why are King's books almost invariably shot to shit on TV and in the movies?

I'd really hoped they'd go with an HBO series that would allow it to be as true as possible (and practical) to the books. Of course film is a different medium and allowances have to be made; oftentimes a book won't translate well to the screen if the adaptation is too faithful.

But why this casting choice? It's not like you can take it back. From what I've read there are at least three movies planned, with the first currently being shot and due for release in February of 2017. But if this first one bombs because it wards off fans of the series, then what? Then it's over until some other organization comes along to try its hand at it. Hell, I'll be dead by then.

If, in a sequel to Django: Unchained, Django was played by Matt Damon, people would wonder what the hell Tarantino was thinking. Same here.

So whatever. Hopefully it'll be good--and I will go see it, but I'm preparing early for serious disappointment.

 

[ZiprHead]

I liked "The Mist".

 

[Colonel Sanders]

I liked "The Mist".

D'oh! Yes, The Mist was very well done.

I expect this line of correction by other posters to continue.

 

[blastula]

If it sucks, I doubt it will be because of Elba's performance. I only read the first one, but wasn't it set in an alternate world?

 

[Colonel Sanders]

If it sucks, I doubt it will be because of Elba's performance. I only read the first one, but wasn't it set in an alternate world?

Lots of alternate worlds, actually. Throughout the series, King brings in references to a lot of his other stories including The Stand, It, Salem's Lot, and others. It's one of the things that makes it so great.

 

[marc]

Firestarter was actually very close to the book. Rather surprising, especially how long his books usually are.

The problem I had with Storm of the Century was... I live in New England. A supposed 'storm of the century' and they could still drive to different parts of town?? They could still see the lighthouse?? Sorry, that doesn't even qualify as storm of the year.

 

[KeepTalking]

Though I do like Idris Elba as an actor, I have had the same reservation about him playing Roland. I guess one way to resolve the issue is to also flip Odetta, and have her played by a white woman. Of course, Odetta does not appear until the second book, and I don't think they have revealed whether the first film will include more than just the first book, but if it doesn't they can put off any problems with Odetta until The Drawing of the Three is filmed. They did recently announce that Katheryn Winnick was cast to play a major role in the film, but have not revealed the name of the character she will be playing. Perhaps she will be the white version of Odetta.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, even though Roland is described as a white guy in the books, does his race actually have any bearing on his character? If you have a white guy playing MLK or a black guy playing David Duke in biographies about them, then it matters because their race is a central aspect to the storyline about them. If not, then it's kind of a moot point. Sure, King was thinking of Clint Eastwood when he created the character but unless "being white" had something to do with who Roland is, it's sort of a moot point.

 

[ronburgundy]

Well, even though Roland is described as a white guy in the books, does his race actually have any bearing on his character? If you have a white guy playing MLK or a black guy playing David Duke in biographies about them, then it matters because their race is a central aspect to the storyline about them. If not, then it's kind of a moot point. Sure, King was thinking of Clint Eastwood when he created the character but unless "being white" had something to do with who Roland is, it's sort of a moot point.

I thought the OP did a good job of explaining how his race is in fact rather relevant to his character and to another character, their relationship, and the context of racism surrounding it.

Although, also flipping the women's race to white and her former attackers to black could actually work really well, maybe even better. A black hero having a relationship with a white woman crippled by black assailants would seem to accomplish even more of what King was going for, plus really push the buttons of racists as an artistic bonus.

 

[braces_for_impact]

To me, just flipping Odetta to white still doesn't work. There's a lot of her past in the story, and the racism that she encounters and how it shapes her seems paramount to who she is. (Not to mention plays a later part in a surprise if I remember correctly.) If you flip it, it's just the tired old trope of a white woman learning her lesson and no longer being a klan member because she meets a black person that doesn't fit her worldview of how blacks are supposed to be. I'm kinda with you Colonel Sanders, in thinking this should have been left as is.

I was never a King fan until I read this series. After which I even went and read some of the connected stories that are part of the arc. I don't have high hopes for it either, I'm afraid.

But hey, sometimes you get surprised. I thought Ash vs. The Evil Dead would be terrible and I love that show, they did a great job on the new series.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, even though Roland is described as a white guy in the books, does his race actually have any bearing on his character? If you have a white guy playing MLK or a black guy playing David Duke in biographies about them, then it matters because their race is a central aspect to the storyline about them. If not, then it's kind of a moot point. Sure, King was thinking of Clint Eastwood when he created the character but unless "being white" had something to do with who Roland is, it's sort of a moot point.

I thought the OP did a good job of explaining how his race is in fact rather relevant to his character and to another character, their relationship, and the context of racism surrounding it.

Although, also flipping the women's race to white and her former attackers to black could actually work really well, maybe even better. A black hero having a relationship with a white woman crippled by black assailants would seem to accomplish even more of what King was going for, plus really push the buttons of racists as an artistic bonus.

Ah yes, I missed that part. If that's the case, it does seem that they're going to have to change some major aspects of the character and his main relationship in order to have it fit into the actor playing him.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

To me, just flipping Odetta to white still doesn't work. There's a lot of her past in the story, and the racism that she encounters and how it shapes her seems paramount to who she is. (Not to mention plays a later part in a surprise if I remember correctly.) If you flip it, it's just the tired old trope of a white woman learning her lesson and no longer being a klan member because she meets a black person that doesn't fit her worldview of how blacks are supposed to be. I'm kinda with you Colonel Sanders, in thinking this should have been left as is.

Right. And then that necessitates Eddie Dean being a black guy. Or at least for consistency's sake you'd think so.

I don't know... I always imagined that if a movie studio was going to take this up, it would be on the scale of the LOTRs--as faithful as possible to the books. But it seems like they've utterly eschewed the idea in favor of who-the-hell-knows what. Granted, it's early in production, but some of the news coming out is that they're not shooting it in any kind of order, nor do they plan to follow the books very consistently.

So why make the fucking movies at all??? Make something else and call it something else and hope it succeeds on its own merits rather than destroying something that would have pleased the fans of the books. After all, that's the core audience--the fans. That's who's going to show up at 12:00 a.m. on Thursday night to see it and in the next few days following to either give it a yay or nay.

And this is one of those projects that if done halfway decently would have big numbers on nerd-repeat business alone (me for instance). Fucking 50 Shades of Gray got all its fans to show up on opening weekend and the week after and it was enough to ensure the next movie would get made. But if this thing tanks, then someone else is going to have to buy the rights and start all over again---if it ever happens at all.

But hey, sometimes you get surprised. I thought Ash vs. The Evil Dead would be terrible and I love that show, they did a great job on the new series.

Hopefully. But if Peter Jackson had made the Hobbits 6 feet tall and turned Gandalf into a woman, it's difficult to see how those movies would have succeeded.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, The Running Man wasn't much like King's book which it was based on but was still an awesome movie.

 

[James Brown]

I liked "The Mist".

D'oh! Yes, The Mist was very well done.

I expect this line of correction by other posters to continue.

Objection!

I enjoyed The Green Mile quite much.

And yes, I'm not holding out much hope for this series. I had read that Russell Crowe was targeted to play Roland Deschain.

I'm okay with Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black:

 

[Colonel Sanders]

D'oh! Yes, The Mist was very well done.

I expect this line of correction by other posters to continue.

Objection!

I enjoyed The Green Mile quite much.

And yes, I'm not holding out much hope for this series. I had read that Russell Crowe was targeted to play Roland Deschain.

I'm okay with Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black:

View attachment 7440

Got me again with the Green Mile. Anyone pointed out Shawshank Redemption yet?

Anyway, Matthew McConaughey will be excellent as The Man in Black. That was an inspired choice. Are his fingernails naturally that long or is that just for the movie?

And apparently they aren't starting from the start, which pains me even further. I'm way too angsty about this.

 

[KeepTalking]

Right. And then that necessitates Eddie Dean being a black guy. Or at least for consistency's sake you'd think so.

I don't know... I always imagined that if a movie studio was going to take this up, it would be on the scale of the LOTRs--as faithful as possible to the books. But it seems like they've utterly eschewed the idea in favor of who-the-hell-knows what. Granted, it's early in production, but some of the news coming out is that they're not shooting it in any kind of order, nor do they plan to follow the books very consistently.

So why make the fucking movies at all??? Make something else and call it something else and hope it succeeds on its own merits rather than destroying something that would have pleased the fans of the books. After all, that's the core audience--the fans. That's who's going to show up at 12:00 a.m. on Thursday night to see it and in the next few days following to either give it a yay or nay.

And this is one of those projects that if done halfway decently would have big numbers on nerd-repeat business alone (me for instance). Fucking 50 Shades of Gray got all its fans to show up on opening weekend and the week after and it was enough to ensure the next movie would get made. But if this thing tanks, then someone else is going to have to buy the rights and start all over again---if it ever happens at all.

I was disappointed by the final ending to The Dark Tower. I should have stopped reading at the point where King tells you to stop reading, then I would have felt better about it. But this kind of gives me hope that the movies will do what the book series should have done, give Roland the Horn from the start, and let him keep it so that maybe he has a chance of winning. It is a very distant hope, but it is the only thing that will right the wrong that King did to me by ending it the way he did.

But hey, sometimes you get surprised. I thought Ash vs. The Evil Dead would be terrible and I love that show, they did a great job on the new series.

Hopefully. But if Peter Jackson had made the Hobbits 6 feet tall and turned Gandalf into a woman, it's difficult to see how those movies would have succeeded.

Gandalf could have worked as a woman, albeit a very old, bearded woman.

 

[Playball40]

I loved the movie Shawshank Redemption.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

I was disappointed by the final ending to The Dark Tower. I should have stopped reading at the point where King tells you to stop reading, then I would have felt better about it. But this kind of gives me hope that the movies will do what the book series should have done, give Roland the Horn from the start, and let him keep it so that maybe he has a chance of winning. It is a very distant hope, but it is the only thing that will right the wrong that King did to me by ending it the way he did.

I disagree mightily. I thought it was incredible--especially when you consider the fact that King's original idea was to have Roland open the door at the top of the tower and then end it with that--with him opening the door. Sorry, but after that much time in, I don't want anything left to my imagination. At any rate, reasonable minds can disagree. But not on...

Gandalf could have worked as a woman, albeit a very old, bearded woman.

 

[James Brown]

OOH! I forgot! Stand by Me, based on King's novel The Body. That was a good one.

Seems that the fewer supernatural elements in King's story, the better the movie.

Without knowing about this movie, I started re-reading the Dark Tower cycle this year, and am currently in the midst of Book V, my favorite of the seven.

 

[KeepTalking]

I disagree mightily. I thought it was incredible--especially when you consider the fact that King's original idea was to have Roland open the door at the top of the tower and then end it with that--with him opening the door. Sorry, but after that much time in, I don't want anything left to my imagination. At any rate, reasonable minds can disagree. But not on...

The thing that bugged me with the ending is:

Show

All he did was start the story over at the beginning, but with one important difference, Roland has the Horn. The big revelation is that he had been to the Dark Tower before, many times, and each time the cycle just started over. The next cycle will be different, though, because now it is possible that he will defeat the Dark Tower. That's the story that I wanted to read, the one that could possibly end differently, and end the cycle, not the story that had repeated many time before.

But like I said, King warned readers like me to stop reading after the scene in New York, and I kept reading anyway, so it's kind of my fault.