Movie: Stephen Kings The Dark Tower Idris Elba & Matthew McConaughey

[monkeydelmagico]

the dude crafts some compelling stories and ideas. It's just that he sucks at dialogue for the most part, and the overall craft of writing...which really is fine in the end.

He's crafty he get's around
He's crafty he's always down
<beastie boys>

Craft of writing = shit nobody reads

Craft beers only for the zin hobo

Lets see if the compelling story translates to the big screen. With a "hack" writer joining forces with a hack producer I bet this turd goes straight to video.

CHUD LIVES

 

[zinfamous]

He's crafty he get's around
He's crafty he's always down
<beastie boys>

Craft of writing = shit nobody reads

Craft beers only for the zin hobo

Lets see if the compelling story translates to the big screen. With a "hack" writer joining forces with a hack producer I bet this turd goes straight to video.

CHUD LIVES

heh, this is exactly my point. The only work of his that hasn't made for a rather shitty film is when he had no control over the material: The Shining. He hated every ounce of that film, and for good reason: It was created by a supremely talented individual.

Stephen King's "The Shining," made many years later, was predictably shitty.

 

[ControlD]

Shawshank Redemption (I know you don't like it but still ...) isn't a shitty film. Misery isn't a shitty film either. Carrie and Christine are OK, not great but maybe not shitty either.

In general though I agree, most Stephen King movie adaptations are pretty bad.

The Shining is close to a shitty film though. Jack Nicholson was just good enough to get past Shelly Duval's wretched lack of acting ability.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

heh, this is exactly my point. The only work of his that hasn't made for a rather shitty film is when he had no control over the material: The Shining. He hated every ounce of that film, and for good reason: It was created by a supremely talented individual.

Stephen King's "The Shining," made many years later, was predictably shitty.

Calling King a hack and then putting Kubrick on a pedestal is rich. Either they are both hacks or neither are.

See if you can pick some of the awesome movies Frank Darabont produced/directed in collaboration with Stephen King.

List of great King films:
Stand by me
Green mile
Shawshank
Shining

List of decent King films:
Carrie
Cujo
Running man
Pet Cemetary
Children of Corn
Hearts in Atlantis

It isn't the material it's the producer and director. The Dark Tower is King's magnus opus. It's good. Having Opie produce it is the big mistake not the work itself.

The only way to salvage this monorail wreck (blaine is a pain) is to get Clint Eastwood to direct it, fire Idris Elba (whoever the hell that is), and cast someone like Daniel Craig as Roland.

 

[Oyeve]

Integral to the plot? Not really, but integral to the original storytelling/setting, yes, especially in one of the books (I forget which).

He should be a "beloved patriot mahfah!"

But I actually like Idris as Roland. I mean, yeah, Roland has Clint written all over but Clint is old as hell. An there just aint no other Clint.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

I do kind of think that it changes a large part of the story (changing the race). Every time I think of this though, I keep thinking how if there was a new Star Trek and Sisko was in it but white, that would be just as bad a change, if not worse -

 

[destrekor]

I had to search to see if anyone made a thread about the new info for this movie that is finally happening.

Bummed I missed this thread when it was fresh.


oh well, my two cents:

I am happy Idris Elba is doing it. I am, of course, a little disappointed that it isn't a white actor to keep the story accurate, but there really are only a few characters capable of playing Roland as well as should be played, and actually I think it will be awesome to see Elba as a western-inspired gunslinger. A nice contrast that also helps create a starker contrast between Roland and Randall/the man in black.


There have been numerous rumors that Aaron Paul is likely to play Eddie Dean, and oh my god I so hope that ends up being true. Actually, I'll be very disappointed if it's not, as I am readily imagining him as Eddie, and it is like Aaron Paul was born for that role. That he has been clamoring to play it for the past few years makes him that much more perfect for the role, because he earnestly wants to do that character. And he has it in him. Eddie has a terrific story arc, and I so want to so Aaron Paul play it out.


I sincerely hope that this movie is successful and warrants further consideration of the original intent for the story adaptation: create a few seasons of a TV mini-series that air between the movies, fleshing out the story further so that the movies can focus on the larger story arcs. It was a terrific idea when that was first proposed, and it remains something I very much want to see, as that seems like the best way to adapt the material.

 

[destrekor]

Spoiler

I saw a comment that suggested when they start the movie they show the horn on Roland's belt indicating this will be the final turn of wheel and would explain why it won't perfectly follow the books.

That... would be awesome. Like, really, really awesome. If they adapt the whole series of novels in some shape or capacity, it could definitely use some touch up here and there, especially toward the end. But I did like that part at the end quite a bit, and figured it was the best way to setup for later adaptations and addendum stories. I do wish King would write another story in the universe (novel, not graphic novel, though I should get around to reading those), because The Wind Through the Keyhole was a tease, a nasty tease. I liked it, but it was nothing like the first four novels.

I kind of feel bad, because King felt rushed to get the story out, having been made painfully aware of his mortality. Once he stepped out of the "write it as it feels right" groove and into the "I need to finish this story" groove, the novels jumped a track and just didn't feel quite the same. I, personally, still thought they were good, but they didn't hold a candle to the first four. Maybe it's best that he may still add to the story but do it at a casual pace, to atone for the reckless pace with which he finished the story.

Honestly, though, in regards to the race of Roland, outside of the cover art, it was rarely pointed out IIRC, and the biggest piece was really just the racial tension between Roland and Detta.

Speaking of which, I really hope they do Odetta/Detta/Susannah right. Someone pointed out that Naomie Harris would be perfect for the role, and I am inclined to agree.

 

[Paratus]

I had to search to see if anyone made a thread about the new info for this movie that is finally happening.

Bummed I missed this thread when it was fresh.


oh well, my two cents:

I am happy Idris Elba is doing it. I am, of course, a little disappointed that it isn't a white actor to keep the story accurate, but there really are only a few characters capable of playing Roland as well as should be played, and actually I think it will be awesome to see Elba as a western-inspired gunslinger. A nice contrast that also helps create a starker contrast between Roland and Randall/the man in black.


There have been numerous rumors that Aaron Paul is likely to play Eddie Dean, and oh my god I so hope that ends up being true. Actually, I'll be very disappointed if it's not, as I am readily imagining him as Eddie, and it is like Aaron Paul was born for that role. That he has been clamoring to play it for the past few years makes him that much more perfect for the role, because he earnestly wants to do that character. And he has it in him. Eddie has a terrific story arc, and I so want to so Aaron Paul play it out.


I sincerely hope that this movie is successful and warrants further consideration of the original intent for the story adaptation: create a few seasons of a TV mini-series that air between the movies, fleshing out the story further so that the movies can focus on the larger story arcs. It was a terrific idea when that was first proposed, and it remains something I very much want to see, as that seems like the best way to adapt the material.

Can't agree more about Aaron Paul as Eddie Dean. Looks like there's at least a chance.

http://m.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/aaron-paul-sounds-dark-tower-rumors-article-1.2561230


I think I saw an article that said they may have found a Jake as well.

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/dark-tower-tom-taylor-chambers-1201727356/

 

[destrekor]

Well, from a writer's standpoint he is a hack, but an entertaining and successful one at that. Not to detract from him because the dude crafts some compelling stories and ideas. It's just that he sucks at dialogue for the most part, and the overall craft of writing...which really is fine in the end.

For the majority of writers, garnering that type of success doing what you love is worth more than anything else. I think there are plenty of far superior writers that wouldn't mind "giving up" and just going full on formulaic model and churning out the next pablum on an annual basis. (Exactly what Dean R Koontz way, way back when he gave up on trying to be good. ).

To be fair, I think part of the thing with King is that he simply enjoys telling the stories he tells, and let's the stories mostly coalesce as they go. Sure, most writers enjoy writing what they write, but King almost takes it to another level. He is fast and loose with his writing, writing volume way beyond many other authors. He found his niche in the market and owns it, but when he slows down I think he can spin a fantastic tale. Case in point, the first half of The Dark Tower series, where there were many years and even decades between releases. I think that was some of his best writing, ever. The Wizard and Glass is probably one of my favorite novels, ever.

But his big piece is that he doesn't plot, or at least, it's vague ideas. He let's the story come to him, which explains why many of his novels of the decades have been tomes, sometimes unnecessarily so. And his biggest challenge is the ending of a story. Rarely makes a first-rate ending, at least, it's not his norm. But I'm fine with that, as I don't often need to seek out award winning material to read, I just want a good ride. And even if an ending lets me down, be it in a book, movie, or TV series, I really don't mind much, so long as the journey was fulfilling. People will take a bad ending and use it to slam the entire body of work, as though the end is the only point of a story that matters. And frankly, for King, it is basically the least important part of a story. The story, for him, is the journey.

And while dialogue is not often his strong suit, his characterizations are more often on point than many contemporary authors, who rather deal in stereotypes and idealized dream characters (often idealized representations of themselves - I'm looking at you, every female author of young adult novels with female heroines!).

 

[destrekor]

Another tragic cinematic butchering of a King book. I can hardly wait....

I read they are interjecting a totally unnecessary character (Abby Lee) to play crimson king. Let the bastardization begin. Rumor has it the story will not start in the desert either. Ron Howard as producer? Yeah, uhm suck. Since they cant cast Clint Eastwood at least get him to direct it.

Color me pessimistic.

Eh? The rumors for Abbey Lee have been pointing to her as Tirana, a minor character who was among the Low Men, and they served the Crimson King. She may very well get a larger role than the original character, but I doubt it will really matter.

They're starting in media res, which I think is actually a pretty good approach to getting this story adapted. They might be entertaining the idea of larger mini-series in-between big budget movies, such as a couple big production 10-episode seasons/series on HBO or Showtime. I could see them starting with the third or fifth novel, likely blending them to have the whole story of the first movie focus on the modern day aspects. And then a follow-up miniseries could easily tackle the early novels and back story while they focus the movies on the big-action Hollywood-ready stories of the final three novels. Each miniseries would likely be one novel each. They might have two years of back to back seasons, then the second movie, and the series continues for a third year, with a third movie releasing in the fourth year.

I'm trying to imagine though, how they work The Wizard and Glass into the adaptations. Do they dedicate a season or a movie to the story which is entirely in Roland's youth? Do they feed it to us in snippets, which is a great disservice to that novel?

 

[ImpulsE69]

the problem is the way they are trying to sell it, it won't happen. We MAY get a movie, we MAY get 1 mini series, but the whole thing they are trying to do will never happen. It isn't Harry Potter. They want a franchise, and this isn't it.

One movie will flop and they will cancel the rest. So I would much rather a HBO/Starz mini series that somewhat covers the early stuff then gets deep into one of the books, rather than the whole story arc.

 

[Paratus]

the problem is the way they are trying to sell it, it won't happen. We MAY get a movie, we MAY get 1 mini series, but the whole thing they are trying to do will never happen. It isn't Harry Potter. They want a franchise, and this isn't it.

One movie will flop and they will cancel the rest. So I would much rather a HBO/Starz mini series that somewhat covers the early stuff then gets deep into one of the books, rather than the whole story arc.

If done well like an Ironman or Batman Begins it could work. Hell Man of Steel wasn't that great and it's still getting a shared universe franchise.

 

[blankslate]

heh, this is exactly my point. The only work of his that hasn't made for a rather shitty film is when he had no control over the material: The Shining. He hated every ounce of that film, and for good reason: It was created by a supremely talented individual.

Stephen King's "The Shining," made many years later, was predictably shitty.

I don't hold that example as evidence that King is a hack. Sure, a lot of his writing is average but some are horror classics for a reason.
The first 3 Dark Tower books are quite excellent even if they aren't literary classics.

Quite frankly most critics turn up their noses at horror no matter how good it is...

Good books and good movies are different. They are extremely different mediums of story telling and what is good in a book can be terrible if adapted faithfully onscreen. A good movie based on a good book that is faithful to the source material often happens when the source material isn't too long at all. 400 pages at most (imo). Usually the source material for those movies are much shorter.

Once you start getting into lengthy books then any movie that faithfully hews to the book will very likely be seriously flawed or be exceptionally long.


____________

 

[ImpulsE69]

If done well like an Ironman or Batman Begins it could work. Hell Man of Steel wasn't that great and it's still getting a shared universe franchise.

It's true, I just don't think it will translate well and there won't be enough people who like it. It won't be the cash cow the comic universe is, but..who knows, strange things happen.

 

[destrekor]

It's true, I just don't think it will translate well and there won't be enough people who like it. It won't be the cash cow the comic universe is, but..who knows, strange things happen.

I don't know, I feel like The Dark Tower has a massive audience, perhaps more so than standard fantasy stories. I bet more people have read The Dark Tower than Game of Thrones, but obviously I have no numbers to reach that conclusion.

Those are the fans who make the first movie a success if it doesn't initially connect with others. The rest will follow if it's a good movie. How well of an adaptation doesn't really matter as long as the spirit survives. I don't expect faithful adaptations of most stories, because you just can't more often than not. Characters may change or get blended together, plot points may come at different times. I often hear of the changes between book and series for Game of Thrones, yet people are happy. You just have to keep that spirit alive and get as much correct as possible while handling the adaptation.


I do think they are trying to make their strongest effort to capture more than just longtime fans of the story, by starting in media res rather than at book 1 with just Roland.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled and absolutely love an adaptation that went from start to finish and followed the books in order, or even really close.

I just don't that is a good way to get the story rolling on film, not if you want to maximize your revenue and viewership. Get the ball rolling with all the main characters, sell the story with more plot up front, and then they can give us the backstory in some fashion. I do hope that backstory comes in the form of dedicated segment (be it movie or tv series season) and not as bits and pieces scattered through the series.

Oh, and oh please oh please use actual film. Hell, for this story, using 70mm would be absolutely fantastic! But I don't expect to have my wish granted.

 

[Paratus]

So some artwork for the Movie was tweeted out by Stephen King

"Last Time Around" over a (the) Horn in the mud. :hmm:


I think my concerns have dropped a bit.
The new shots of Idris Elba as Roland look decent too.

 

[BxgJ]

So some artwork for the Movie was tweeted out by Stephen King

"Last Time Around" over a (the) Horn in the mud. :hmm:


I think my concerns have dropped a bit.
The new shots of Idris Elba as Roland look decent too.

Now I'll have to watch it, because I must know!

 

[SP33Demon]

The gunslinger should be white, as he is on the book covers and in the story. I like Elba, but he shouldn't be the gunslinger because he doesn't fit what King wrote him as. Plus the story is so abstract at times, not sure it would even translate well to film unless they just fast forward to all of the plot points. Part of the joy of reading the series was Roland discovering new things at a slow pace between plot points which left a lot of mystery and guessing on the reader's part. The majority of the time you just think, wtf is going on? Which probably won't translate to screen.

Will be skipping this.

 

[MontyAC]

Looks like the series will be different from the books, since he's be blowing the horn.

 

[destrekor]

Looks like the series will be different from the books, since he's be blowing the horn.

Yup, great method to roll of the original ending, adapt the story, and allow for changes to plot and characters.

Spoiler

This is Roland starting his journey over, now with the horn that he did not have last time, and without any of the memories formed along the way. So he and his Ka-tet may face similar but different challenges.

This is a perfect way to bridge novel series to movie format: there are always changes in adaptation, it's absolutely necessary, but this explicitly demands there be changes.


It definitely sounds like the movie will begin with some story material from the final three books, but I'm curious just how this will be done, as either they have kept the casting for Odetta and Eddie a secret, or they won't be in the first film. Which makes it awfully odd if Roland will be reaching into our world and timeline where characters like Tirana reside (iirc).

I'm excited to see where this all goes, and hope they, above all else, just make a damn good movie, accuracy be damned. They've been given free reign to do just that, take advantage of it.

Here's to it being so good, and Idris so awesome, he wins an Oscar for it! Hollywood and Hollywood's haters would both be happy to see that happen.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I'm excited. As much as I like Idris Elba, I really think Roland should have been played by a white actor though. There were just too many mentions of him being a dead ringer for Clint Eastwood in the books for me to overlook that change completely. I would have been put off by any white actor who didn't bear a resemblance to Eastwood as well I suppose.

 

[Muse]

it's McConaughey

 

[Jaskalas]

Great, there are already people complaining that a black guy is in it.

Idris Elba is THE MAN! !@#$ those people.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

He should be a "beloved patriot mahfah!"

But I actually like Idris as Roland. I mean, yeah, Roland has Clint written all over but Clint is old as hell. An there just aint no other Clint.

I have serious issues with this movie/series. I'm a huge fan of the DT books and have read them numerous times. There are far too many character development points that honestly depend on Roland's race.

Spoiler

the infinite amount of times that Detta calls him beloved patriot or greymeat or.... and then there's the Chap

I really was hoping for a direct translation from book to screen, but that's not gonna happen any time soon.