Dark Tower FINALLY happening?

[SJBKAT]

According to Ain't It Cool News (who got it from IGN), JJ Abrams is set to direct the Dark Tower. It is unknown whether or not it will be a film series or mini series, but both articles state a mini series would be more likely. Apparently its just days away from an official announcement.

All I know is that Steven Webber will be all over this.

[cg124]

I'm excited since I loved the series,but also extremely concerned

[Ewok Droppings]

For those of us who don't know what "The Dark Tower" is all about, anyone care to enlighten me?

[Darth Bane]

One of the sweetest book series ever by Stephen King. It's up there with LOTR, Hitchhikers, and other great fictional work for me.

Basically, King's always had a certain mythology intersecting with all of his novels.

Sometimes, it's just a key word from a character..

"Tak en tow"

Sometimes, it's just the setting itself...

Derry, Maine....New York....Black House...

Sometimes, it's just a singular character connecting it..

Randall Flag(from The Stand), Crimson King(from Insomnia and mentioned in IT)

Nearly all of his novels intersect in this certain worldverse(Mid-World) spanning the last 3 decades. Well, King wrote a series(think western) set entirely about a character(Named Roland Deschain) who's purpose other then being a kick ass Gunslinger was to "find the Dark Tower".

You see, the world was going awry. Technically, the universe was going awry. Existence as he knew it(everyone involved) started to fall apart in places and Roland was the man who was going to get there and do something about it. Technically, it was all about revenge for things done to him in the beginning but it gradually grew into something else entirely.

It really is one of the funnest series to read for the first time, Ewok.

I'm not sure how I feel about the news yet.

It took decades to bring Tolkien's LOTR to hollywood as far as a live action version and I thought it would take decades more for the Dark Tower series.

Can they even top the imagination of the reader here anyway?

[kel thuzad]

Definitely one of the best book series ever written.
I love these books. Adaptation...? uhh...
The magnitude of these books equals almost LOTR to some degree, I dont want miniseries, I want SEVEN feature movies damnit!!
Ohh, they better do this right, I just hope this time King will seriously supervise and not just take that attitude of his: "i dont give a rats as/ about a movie, the book is important to me...". I mean this is DARK TOWER, the biggest and best thing hes ever written...
OMG...Im collapsing...
Please, no mini series, please...?

[FVD]

I think the Dark Tower series will be the next bunch of books I shall start reading once I've completed the Bond series. As for the movies well time to start reading first.

[shained]

as others have mentioned these books cannot be recommended highly enough, i have read lotr and the dark tower series blows them away. the most engrossing read i have ever had, just bought the comic the gunslinger born today which is a collaboration with marvel comics. This is the 1st comic book i have ever bought in my life!!! thats how amazing this story is, i will be buying all 7.
Back to the film (it is a film site lol) i believe it needs to be more than 3 films all of the story, even half, probably couldnt be fitted into a trilogy, if abarams directs i will be very happy as he has a lot of talent, would prefer christopher nolan though, beggars cant be choosers eh.
My ideal lead for roland would be hugh jackman he would be perfect if not him maybe thomas jane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt or haley joel osment for jake mayb, thandie newton or jada pinket smith for suzannah not sure on eddie though
As you can all probably guess i am very excited about these films

[Nilade]

I remember the first 3 Darktower books, I read those like 15 years ago. Never read the rest though. Thinking about rereading them. I remember the illustrations were amazing. The was pretty much one illustration per chapter, but they were off the hook.

[shained]

for the gunslinger drawin of the three wastelands and wizard and glass i read da papaerbacks so didt c da drawings but in wolves songs and da dark tower they are amazing

also in this comic 1 i jus bought the drawings are unbelievably good, you really should start reading the others, the next 1 is wizard and glass which i think is the best in the series and prob da best book i have ever read!!!

[Deexan]

Our first thought was he lied in every word, that mischievous producer with malicious eye askance... Well, lied isn't quite right, but JJ Abrams has finally put to bed the hints and rumours that he might be embarking on a perilous journey to Stephen King's seven-volume, incredibly epic fantasy series, The Dark Tower.

Talking to MTV, he confirmed his position that "After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I'm such a massive Stephen King fan that I'm terrified of screwing it up. I'd do anything to see those movies written by someone else. "

Movies? We'd have thought a long TV series would be a better format, but even that would be insanely ambitious. Abrams' Lost co-producer Damon Lindelof had also been aboard the project, but said earlier in the year that watching Zack Snyder wrestle with Watchmen had given him the fear: "In terms of saying where can I digress from the material, I just get headaches thinking about changing anything."

So is there any chance of hope rekindling? Will Abrams ever relent, and turn aside once again into that ominous tract? "My guess is The Dark Tower will get made because its so incredible," he says. "But not by me."

In fact, we'd reckon that it probably won't get made by anyone for, if ever there was a King book(s) that was truly unfilmable, it's The Dark Tower, with its parallel universes, skipping timelines and characters drawn heavily from King's other novels... including, at one point, King himself. Brave and tinged with genius will be the man, or woman, who brings the story of Roland Deschain to the big screen without too much compromise. Is there anybody out there who can do this?

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=26266

[Ramplate]

I've always pictured the gunslinger as Clint Eastwood.

[Boiiinng]

Well, let's hope King has more of a say in these films than he usually does. I would also hate to see someone screw them up and am glad that JJ has backed off.

[Panther2000]

I read some of the 1st book & just couldn't get into the story. I bought the
1st 3 in the DT series but, I couldn't do it. They are still collecting dust in a box in my house.

I have always loved how SK brought characters from other stories into the current one he was working on.

But, I must say that I haven't read anything of his after the Green Mile Series. Talk about a great book. To this day no matter the movie or the book. I always cry when John Coffee rides the Lighting.

In some ways I don't blame JJ. a Few ST Geeks couldn't get over what he did with Star Trek Some still bash him to this day saying there wasn't enough science the movie when, it is obvious that the movie was more about the relationship & the coming together of the crew. Also, Eventhough, it is one of the best reviewed movies so far this year. & A box office that people weren't expecting.

I just don't understand SK with his books & movies. Maybe, it is just about the money. Sell the rights to a studio & let them ruin his written word. Both versions of the Shinning were alwful. & that includes the original with Jack N. & the remake was tried to be more like the book but came out worse. IT, don't get me started. But, Tim Curry was great. Yes, we all float down here. But SK Pissed me off with IT turning out to be a Freaking Mutant Spider of some kind. I guess he was drawing a blank. That book had me scard until the end.

But, I did love like I stated The Green Mile & the Stand Which is my favorite book( The original version with all the extra pages put back into the book). I think that those 2 turned out great.

[quote][I've always pictured the gunslinger as Clint Eastwood/QUOTE] Me too but, that was in his younger days. But, when you think of that it does come off as obvious.

[shained]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=65638

Noticed this on the main site, i've got mixed feelings over a number of issues.

Ron Howard has been quite hit and miss for me and goes from the Brilliant (Cindarella Man) to Good (Beautiful Mind) to Boring (The Da Vinci Code) and with the boring one being the adaptation i'm a little worried. Also the writer has collaborated on them films but also the awful Batman and Robin film, that was one of his earlier efforts so hopefuly it's out of his system!

And finally the length, a trilogy, doesn't seem to be enough I don't think. There is a vague mention of it being combined with a tv show, i'm not sure how this would work but I can't see them attracting big actors to commit to both.

These are my favourite books of all time and I don't want to see them ruined, but at the same time I don't want the word for word adaptation that was The Da Vinci Code (a book I liked). As good as the books are there are moments which can be cut out, like a lot of Wolves of the Calla, any moment actually involving Stephen King himself and a lot of the normal King cheesyness can be cut.

I also can't believe how child like I posted up only a couple of years ago looking at my previous posts. Its like I was sending a text message.....

[Tornado]

I am a huge Stephen King fan and I love these novels. While I would love to see a film series/television mini-series made out of them, I don't think it can be done in three films. I would much rather see seven films (or, like I said, a 12-episode mini-series) in order to give the writing the space it needs.

[sandman822]

the series deserves films not a mini series

[Tornado]

If they're going to tell the story through a visual medium, then they need to do it right. If that's a 7-film series, OK. If that's a television mini-series, OK. That is not a 3-film trilogy. They can't do it justice that way.

[Deexan]

The Dark Tower is a huge and epic series of books – so perhaps it's appropriate that it is getting a huge and epic adaptation.

Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have closed the deal to adapt the famous Stephen King series – as both a movie trilogy and a TV series, which will be developed and produced together.

As reported back in April, the team behind A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code -- Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman and Brian Grazer -- are behind the adaptation, but it is only now being 100% confirmed that the rumored TV series is part of the deal.

The feature films will begin first, with the first TV season being used to bridge the first and second movies. Deadline notes this means that the cast of the film trilogy – including a yet to be cast big name star as the main character, Roland Deschain – will be committing to appear in the TV series as well, which is, obviously, a very unusual scenario. After the second film is released, the second season of the TV series would then focus on the younger Deschain, before the third and final film picks up with the older Deschain and finishes his story. The storylines will also be influenced the Dark Tower prequel comic book series that King helped plot.

As Deadline notes, the same sets, cast and crew could be used for the films and TV series, which will help contain costs – though this is obviously going to be a very expensive undertaking.

Goldsman has committed to writing the film and the first season of the TV series. Goldsman has recently been working in TV on Fringe, where he has been a consulting producer and written and directed several episodes. Deadline says Howard will direct the first Dark Tower film and also the first season of the series – it's unclear if that means he will direct every single episode (a rare feat in TV, especially dramas) or direct the majority of episodes.

Howard spoke to Deadline and when asked to compare what he's hoping to accomplish with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series, said, "What Peter did was a feat, cinematic history. The approach we're taking also stands on its own, but it's driven by the material. I love both, and like what's going on in TV. With this story, if you dedicated to one medium or another, there's the horrible risk of cheating material. The scope and scale call for a big screen budget. But if you committed only to films, you'd deny the audience the intimacy and nuance of some of these characters and a lot of cool twists and turns that make for jaw-dropping, compelling television. We've put some real time and deep thought into this, and a lot of conversations and analysis from a business standpoint, to get people to believe in this and take this leap with us. I hope audiences respond to it in a way that compels us to keep going after the first year or two of work. It's fresh territory for me, as a filmmaker."

No schedule has been announced yet for The Dark Tower but based on the plan the producers have, it seems likely it will be released over three consecutive summers, with the TV series seasons airing in-between.

Also not made 100% clear is the network the TV show will air on. NBC Universal Television Entertainment is producing, but besides the NBC network, they also have USA and Syfy as sister companies.

http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/111/1119037p1.html

This news was brought to you courtesy of Alien

[DVDAVE]

Interesting, I really like the Dark Tower series. I really hope Ron Howard can pull it off. It will be very difficult to fit all the material in three films even with a TV series. Ron Howard also has not made anything that good in a long time IMO, so that has me a little worried as well. I hope for the best

[Anglachel_Sword]

Stephen King´s Dark Tower books are the weirdest thing I have ever read.
I only read the second book (Which title I dont have in english right now) and "Wolves of Calla". Loved the second book more

And it can not be compared to LOTR or other books. I particulary love Tolkien works even more, but it is just another thing.

The Dark Tower is fascinating in another way, its dark, disturbing and scary sometimes.

It will not be an easy job to resume all the seven books in three movie but I think it is very possible and I have good expectations.

I will be so much easier to get into the world of The Dark Tower watching a movie or a TV serie really, the books are way too long and complex.
Excluding some tales of The Gunslinger outside the Dark Tower books, I read one (Dont have the title right now) and it was very much SCARY.

But of course, it will not be the same the world you can imagine reading those books, it is quite fascinating but hopefully a movie will bring something close.

I love Ron Howard movies, I read the two books, Da Vinci Code and A&D, and I trust Ron Howard. I believe both movies are easy to understand even to people who never read the books, and even to me, I did read both books but the movies helped me a lot to understand a few points I didn´t get by just reading the books.

[Justin]

Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman? Not a good sign.

[Deexan]

Ron Howard may have his sights set on Javier Bardem for the lead in his cross-platform, multi-part film and television adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. Deadline is reporting that Bardem has been offered the part of Roland Deschain, the Gunslinger.

Envisioned as three films and a television series (to star the same cast), The Dark Tower will bring to the screen King's fantasy epic that spreads across seven published novels. Howard plans to direct the first part of the series and would at least oversee the rest of the massive adaptation.

Bardem most recently appeared in Biutiful in a part that has landed him an Academy Award nomination. (He previously won a Best Supporting Actor award for his part in 2008's No Country for Old Men).

The Dark Tower has a tentative release date of May 17, 2013.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=73528

[DarthVader 2004]

I think Viggo Mortensen ,Danial Craig or Hugh Jackman be better choices.

[Fresh Prince]

Javier Bordem was good in No Country For Old Men but Hugh Jackman would totally own the role.

[JBond]

Having only read "The Gunslinger" I can picture Hugh Jackman in that role the best. (Of those 4)

But personally, I'd go with an unknown.