Stephen King's The Dark Tower

Jurgen The German · 11-04-2019 2:52pm

Not familiar with either actor so don't have an opinion but I'm happy that it seems to be moving towards fruition. Hopefully they don't make a bags of it.

Jurgen The German · 13-05-2019 9:08pm

Filming apparently happening in Croatia.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/249625208425697/permalink/2099903666731166/

Jerome Flynn (Broon in GOT) in it rumoured to pay Eldred Jonas.

Officially a bit excited now.

....... · 14-05-2019 11:19am

Jurgen The German wrote: »

Jerome Flynn (Broon in GOT) in it rumoured to pay Eldred Jonas.

Good choice for Eldred.

Jurgen The German · 14-05-2019 1:21pm

....... wrote: »

Good choice for Eldred.

An interesting one for sure. I always had Sam Elliot in mind when reading W&G.

He's probably too old now though.

....... · 14-05-2019 1:45pm

Jurgen The German wrote: »

An interesting one for sure. I always had Sam Elliot in mind when reading W&G.

He's probably too old now though.

Yes, Sam Elliot would be an excellent choice BUT he looks too kind.

Jerome Flynn has more of the "failed gunslinger" to him.

kerplun k · 10-06-2019 8:51pm

michael rooker in da house ya’ll

....... · 11-06-2019 9:35am

kerplun k wrote: »

michael rooker in da house ya’ll

For Eldred?

Surely he would be better suited for Cort?

Or are you saying he has been cast? If so, what role?

kerplun k · 11-06-2019 9:50am

....... wrote: »

For Eldred?

Surely he would be better suited for Cort?

Or are you saying he has been cast? If so, what role?

Yep, casting confirmed, but no word on who he’ll play, but me thinks that it’s gotta be Eldred, has the same raspy voice, and bad guy look. Now In saying that, I think he’d make a great Cort as well.

....... · 11-06-2019 9:55am

kerplun k wrote: »

Yep, casting confirmed, but no word on who he’ll play, but me thinks that it’s gotta be Eldred, has the same raspy voice, and bad guy look. Now In saying that, I think he’d make a great Cort as well.

Im betting on Jerome Flynn for Eldred and Rooker for Cort.

Thats great, theres some cool names being associated with this.

Jurgen The German · 11-06-2019 2:36pm

Its probably Cort however I kinda think it could be Stephen Deschain either. Still, to see the cast getting assembled is great and means we will get it at some point.

....... · 11-06-2019 2:38pm

Jurgen The German wrote: »

Its probably Cort however I kinda think it could be Stephen Deschain either. Still, to see the cast getting assembled is great and means we will get it at some point.

Too old to be Stephen surely?

Considering Roland is only 14 when we first meet him?

Jurgen The German · 11-06-2019 2:52pm

Rooker doesn't look that old does he? I always envisioned Stephen of something of a grizzled character anyway.

....... · 11-06-2019 3:00pm

Jurgen The German wrote: »

Rooker doesn't look that old does he? I always envisioned Stephen of something of a grizzled character anyway.

Well Rooker is 64.

I would have envisaged Stephen as in his 30s when Roland was 14. Even if he was a decade older I had him more in mind as a sort of well dressed high born gent.

Interesting to hear someone elses mental image of him!

kerplun k · 27-07-2019 12:57pm

Having watched an episode of The Boys and Jack Ryan, I’m more convinced now that Amazon are capable of doing this justice.

branie2 · 29-07-2019 10:21am

I liked the film

Bacchus · 29-07-2019 11:19am

Spotted this on Netflix over the weekend so gave it a watch. I found it passed the time quite well. Neat plot, good cast, decent flashes of action. I enjoyed the references to the shine, Pennywise and wider Stephen King universe (though I've never read the Dark Tower series). I can imagine how maybe some die-hard book fans could be disappointed in it, as it is quite a light movie that probably brushes over a lot of the source material.

kerplun k · 29-07-2019 12:32pm

Yea, I liked it too.
But unfortunately it completely missed the mark with audiences and critics.
I think by the end of the production they were unsure themselves what they actually wanted this to be and in trying to please everyone they pleased no one.

Jurgen The German · 19-09-2019 1:55pm

https://thegww.com/the-dark-tower-amazon-pilot-helmed-by-24-and-predator-2-director-stephen-hopkins/

Some more details. It seems that the full season hasn't been greenlit as yet and will depend on how the pilot is received.

kerplun k · 19-09-2019 2:00pm

Jurgen The German wrote: »

https://thegww.com/the-dark-tower-amazon-pilot-helmed-by-24-and-predator-2-director-stephen-hopkins/

Some more details. It seems that the full season hasn't been greenlit as yet and will depend on how the pilot is received.

Yep, that has me slightly worried.

Jurgen The German · 19-09-2019 3:12pm

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that unless it has production values at Prisoner Cell Block H levels then we will get at least one full season. There is a massive Game of Thrones sized hole that needs filling and the full DT cycle could do just that. There is clearly a massive appetite for fantasy stuff out there, even among those that previously wouldn't have had an interest.

kerplun k · 19-09-2019 4:05pm

I hope so. They seem to be a bit ruthless on pilot orders.

https://screencrush.com/amazon-pilots-2017-pass-canceled/

Unless it’s straight-to-series, a lot of the pilots are not picked up.

Jurgen The German · 19-09-2019 9:05pm

kerplun k wrote: »

I hope so. They seem to be a bit ruthless on pilot orders.

https://screencrush.com/amazon-pilots-2017-pass-canceled/

Unless it’s straight-to-series, a lot of the pilots are not picked up.

Tbf, that article is almost 2 years old plus the two lads that gave the 3 shows mentioned the nod were possibly up to no good so it could have also been a case of Amazon wanting to sever all ties with them.

Time will tell I guess but I'll be gutted if it doesn't come to pass.

kerplun k · 19-09-2019 9:40pm

Same. Would be gutted if Amazon passed on it.

One thing I’ll say about Glen Mazzara is that he’s very into the new Hollywood way of thinking so hopefully it bodes well and helps with this getting picked up.

Agent Coulson · 16-01-2020 6:52am

Amazon have pulled the plug on the series.

‘The Dark Tower’ Series Adaptation Not Going Forward At Amazon

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has passed on The Dark Tower pilot. The adaptation of Stephen King’s book came from executive producer/showrunner Glen Mazzara and MRC. The production company is shopping two original scripts that were the basis for the pilot pickup, sources said.

The Dark Tower has always been considered very difficult to adapt to the screen, which explains the title’s lengthy road to being made as a feature by Sony and a pilot by Amazon. Largely because of the challenges translating the material, Amazon opted to go with a pilot vs. straight-to-series on a big-scale, big-budget production like The Dark Tower. In the end, I hear Amazon executives felt like the pilot was not on the level of other large-scope elevated genre series the streamer has in production/pre-production like Wheel Of Time and The Lord Of the Rings.

The Dark Tower TV series was designed to be independent from the 2017 film and was meant to be a more faithful retelling of the book than the movie was. It takes place many years before the events depicted in the feature and focused on the origin story of Roland Deschain’s (Sam Strike) – how he first became a gunslinger and got his guns, his first conflict with the man in black (Jasper Pääkkönen), his first love and his first mission as a gunslinger.

The cast of the pilot, which was never officially announced or confirmed, also is believed to have included Michael Rooker, Jerome Flynn and Joana Ribeiro.

King’s eight Dark Tower books draw from multiple genres, including dark fantasy, science fantasy, horror and Western.

https://deadline.com/2020/01/the-dark-tower-series-adaptation-dead-pilot-amazon-not-going-forward-1202830606/

kerplun k · 16-01-2020 9:43am

This breaks my heart

pixelburp · 16-01-2020 10:00am

That's very telling that it got canned as it didn't match up to the other "event" series being produced. Says a lot. As the Americans say, Go Big or Go Home & I'm guessing whatever was being built at The Dark Tower production, it wasn't suitably epic enough.

beans · 16-01-2020 10:04am

Yeah, they mustn't have cracked the 'how the hell do we adapt the full story' nut. In fairness, it's a tough nut.

kerplun k · 16-01-2020 10:29am

pixelburp wrote: »

That's very telling that it got canned as it didn't match up to the other "event" series being produced. Says a lot. As the Americans say, Go Big or Go Home & I'm guessing whatever was being built at The Dark Tower production, it wasn't suitably epic enough.

It is.
I hear the production team are fishing two original scripts that were the basis for the pilot, but I think its time Goldsman, Howard and Grazer let this one go.

16-01-2020 11:27am

I imagine that 'Wizard and Glass' makes The Dark Tower series close to unfilmable for a direct adaptation. Think about it - You spend 3-4 seasons building up your main cast and story, then abandon all of that to spend a season with a young Roland in an extended flashback.

That would be risky with audiences - Imagine if Game of Thrones 5th season was a flashback to Ned Stark's past, with the younger actor who played Ned in the 'Tower of Joy' flashbacks. GoT totally would have lost momentum and arguably a large share of the casual audience in that scenario.

How would the logistics work with actors and their contracts? Do you pay the main cast to sit and wait a year while you film 'Wizard and Glass' with a completely different cast?

I reckon that any future adaptation will require some clever creative thinking to work the W+G story into the overall narrative. There were rumours of starting the TV series with the W+G story, but I don't think that would work. The Gunslinger is ripe for a first season world builder - The world is smaller, there aren't that many characters to get your head around, the story could even be wrapped up without a cliffhanger if they choose not to renew for a second season.

I'm not delighted about this being shelved, once again, but I'd rather this than the DT being butchered for screen, once again.

mobileforest · 16-01-2020 10:21pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I imagine that 'Wizard and Glass' makes The Dark Tower series close to unfilmable for a direct adaptation. Think about it - You spend 3-4 seasons building up your main cast and story, then abandon all of that to spend a season with a young Roland in an extended flashback.

That would be risky with audiences - Imagine if Game of Thrones 5th season was a flashback to Ned Stark's past, with the younger actor who played Ned in the 'Tower of Joy' flashbacks. GoT totally would have lost momentum and arguably a large share of the casual audience in that scenario.

How would the logistics work with actors and their contracts? Do you pay the main cast to sit and wait a year while you film 'Wizard and Glass' with a completely different cast?

I reckon that any future adaptation will require some clever creative thinking to work the W+G story into the overall narrative. There were rumours of starting the TV series with the W+G story, but I don't think that would work. The Gunslinger is ripe for a first season world builder - The world is smaller, there aren't that many characters to get your head around, the story could even be wrapped up without a cliffhanger if they choose not to renew for a second season.

I'm not delighted about this being shelved, once again, but I'd rather this than the DT being butchered for screen, once again.

Adaptations rarely follow books in perfectly. I'd imagine they'd just incorporate parts of W+G into the other seasons rather than as a stand alone series.

Stephen King's The Dark Tower

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