Stephen King and J.J. Abrams are in talks to bring King's "Dark Tower" book series to either film or television.
Abrams' Bad Robot shingle has a first-look deal at Paramount for film projects and a deal with Warner Bros. Television for TV projects.
Determining which format is tricky. King's seven-book series - which blends fantasy, sci-fi, horror and Western genres - seems tailor made for multi-episodic television.
Yet the cost of the ambitious undertaking may relegate it to more cinematic means. It is unclear whether Abrams would solely produce or potentially direct.
This would be awesome. The Dark Tower series are my all time favorite books. I'm not sure which way I would prefer it; movies or television series.
If they made them movies, they could combine the Gunslinger and the Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands could stand alone, The Wizard and the Glass could be done last as a prequel since it takes place in the distant past, Combine Wolves of Calla and Song of Sussanah, and let the Dark Tower stand alone. That would be four movies, not counting Glass. I really don't see anyway they could do all seven as separate movies. I would be to afraid of them not finishing them up. There are not too many franchises that have had seven installments.
A television series might not be a bad idea either. Make it an FX or HBO series and do thirteen episodes a year. We would get a much more full adaption that way.
I just hope it does not get screwed up...
OwlAtHome
02-14-07, 08:45 PM
Whoever finances this better have deep pockets.
Fok
02-15-07, 02:13 AM
Regardless of what they choose, would be great to see this. The books were great, but I don't think any movie or TV show would ever do them justice.
Michael Corvin
02-15-07, 07:31 AM
As a huge DT and King fan I'd love to see it, but my practical side says it will never happen. There is a kid that doesn't really age throughout the seven novels. It would be impossible to achieve that. They couldn't even avoid it on Lost and that was only a year and a half of seeing Walt. Seven years, even more with production, is astronomical.
How will they show the "wolves of the calla?" They don't own the rights to that "character."
I still say the best route is all CG in the vein of Final Fantasy. Either film, or Mature rated CG show on HBO.
It would be kinda cool seeing:
Roland meet King. That is an easy in for King since he cameos in most of his movies
In the end, it gets the fans excited, but I don't see it happening.
Bcolon
02-15-07, 07:53 AM
How will they show the "wolves of the calla?" They don't own the rights to that "character."
Which character?
Jay G.
02-15-07, 08:41 AM
How will they show the "wolves of the calla?" They don't own the rights to that "character."
No movie company owns the rights to that character. Stephen King owns the rights to his characters, and he decided to use that character in that story. So if someone buys the movie/TV rights to Wolves of the Calla and subsequent Dark Tower books, they own the rights to use that character in those stories.
It's like how those two non-EON James Bond films were able to be made because they were based on stories EON didn't have the rights to, even though EON owned the rights to the character.
Jay G.
02-15-07, 08:50 AM
Which character?
Father Callahan, who originally appeared in Salem's Lot
Geofferson
02-15-07, 09:42 AM
There was a blurb in a recent issue of EW about this and after reading it...I wasn't very optimistic it would ever happen. Glad to see J.J. mentioned, but I'm still not optimistic.
TheNightFlier
02-15-07, 05:12 PM
There was a blurb in a recent issue of EW about this and after reading it...I wasn't very optimistic it would ever happen. Glad to see J.J. mentioned, but I'm still not optimistic.
While it would be amazing to see, I'm not very optimistic either. As was pointed out, the budget would have to be tremendous, to do it justice imo. It would be nearly impossible to fit all of the books in without doing 3 or 4 long movies or a 13 or 14 episode mini series. And even then they probably wouldn't get all of the material in. I think it's one of those things that should just stay in book form.
OwlAtHome
02-15-07, 10:52 PM
Another con is that with books that are made into films they do a lot of cutting and changing. Doing those things to the Dark Tower is just unacceptable. You change one thing it will ruin it all. If they can't do everything by the book (pun intended) then they shouldn't do it at all, though there is nothing more I want to see than a Dark Tower film/series.
outer-edge
02-16-07, 09:42 AM
Father Callahan, who originally appeared in Salem's Lot
I don't think this who he was refering to. The wolves themselves resemble a comic book character, just as many of their devices are drawn from other works of fiction.
As a fan, I'd love to see the series. I'd prefer an animated version though, as I do not think the right actors/sets/etc. could ever be chosen for me. As someone suggested, I do not think books like Wizard and Glass could be done last. Roland's history is too important to the character and needs to be told within the context of the rest of the story. This would make this a long series (TV or movie) which means I doubt it will get made unless King works on a reinvented version of the story just for the film/TV.
Jay G.
02-16-07, 11:29 AM
I don't think this who he was refering to. The wolves themselves resemble a comic book character, just as many of their devices are drawn from other works of fiction.
You mean... Dr. Doom, lightsabers, and the sneetches?
Stephen King didn't have the rights to any of those when he wrote the novel either, yet he hasn't been sued by the respective parties yet. I think they understood those were homages and not outright theft. Anyway, if any of those parties have a problem with those things being in the movie/TV version, then they could be altered slightly in appearance and/or function to remove the obvious similiarities. It's not like any of those are critical plot points.
As a fan, I'd love to see the series. I'd prefer an animated version though, as I do not think the right actors/sets/etc. could ever be chosen for me.
But yet you think the right character design, backgrounds, and voice acting can be chosen for you?
As someone suggested, I do not think books like Wizard and Glass could be done last. Roland's history is too important to the character and needs to be told within the context of the rest of the story.
His backstory is actually being told last; King is producing a comic book series that will delve into backstory for the Gunslinger that we haven't seen yet.
Be that as it may, one solution would be to only film Wizard and Glass last, or perhaps even concurrently with one of the other films or seasons, since the majority of Wizard and Glass would utilize completely different actors and sets, etc. Then it could be shown in the proper story order without pausing the filming of the regular characters for a long stretch.
FinkPish
02-17-07, 01:43 AM
I was just watching the recent remake of The Count of Monte Cristo, and I think Jim Caviezel would be an awesome choice as Roland. He's got that dark side as well as a quieter side that would fit very well with the character as King wrote it.
Michael Corvin
02-17-07, 01:54 AM
You mean... Dr. Doom, lightsabers, and the sneetches?
Stephen King didn't have the rights to any of those when he wrote the novel either, yet he hasn't been sued by the respective parties yet. I think they understood those were homages and not outright theft.
Yes that was whom I was referring. The second two can easily be seen as homages, but the first played a pretty major role. With all the comic book movies being greenlit and currently in production(especially two existing franchises he could appear) I doubt Marvel would let that one slide by.
Jay G.
02-17-07, 09:00 AM
Yes that was whom I was referring. The second two can easily be seen as homages, but the first played a pretty major role.
It wasn't Dr. Doom though, they were robots that resembled Dr. Doom. If Marvel seriously has a beef with it, their appearance can be changed without affecting the plot at all.
pinata242
02-17-07, 09:06 AM
Marvel is already in bed with the DT series with the graphic novels, though. I don't see them pitching a hissy fit if the producers of the movie/series wanted to be faithful to King's original version.
abrg923
02-17-07, 09:27 AM
Man...I am beyond excited about the possibility of this. This is my Lord of the Rings.
Michael Corvin
02-17-07, 02:28 PM
Marvel is already in bed with the DT series with the graphic novels, though. I don't see them pitching a hissy fit if the producers of the movie/series wanted to be faithful to King's original version.
Good point. I still don't see this project going anywhere though. It is just too big of a logistical nightmare.
Josh-da-man
02-17-07, 03:11 PM
Actually, it can be sort of tricky to use characters that span multiple books, like Father Callahan.
You will recall that Johnny Mnemonic had the female lead from the story (Molly) replaced with another character because the character of Molly was tied up with whoever had the film rights to Neuromancer.
And "Silence of the Lambs" almost had to rename the characters who appeared in Manhunter (Hannibal Lecter was renamed Gideon Quinn in an early script).
mndtrp
02-17-07, 09:00 PM
The only thing I hope, no matter how this comes to fruition, is to have the acting be good. So many of King's adaptations have great actors, but terrible acting.
I would think a two year series on an HBO-ish channel would be the way to go. Having the kid grow up would cause a small problem, but I'm sure it could be worked around. I don't have cable, but would definitely pick this up on dvd.
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