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The Dark Tower, Coming Soon to a Theater Near You (SPOILERS ERMAGERD)

ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
This is a thread to discuss Stephen King's super-excellent Dark Tower series, and the movie(s) it is being adapted into, featuring Idris Elba as Roland (!) and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black (!!).

It is the most bestest thing and deserves a grand OP full of grandness, but I am short of time so it gets a little dinky OP instead. Blame the Crimson King.

Also, this thread has ALL THE BOOK SPOILERS EVER so, you know, beware. No tags necessary for book stuff, but if you know something about events of the actual movie for some reason, please be considerate and tag those.

I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
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Posts

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    So Andy Serkis for Oy?

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    So will they ask people to leave the theater 3/4 of the way through the last movie for the happy ending?

  • belligerentbelligerent Registered User regular
    I never made it past the wolves of calla or whatever. Sad times, I know.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    So will they ask people to leave the theater 3/4 of the way through the last movie for the happy ending?

    Only if you're watching it near a massage place...

    Also if we see Roland has the horn things might be different.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • Dark Raven XDark Raven X Laugh hard, run fast, be kindRegistered User regular
    So will they ask people to leave the theater 3/4 of the way through the last movie for the happy ending?

    Post credits scenes have finally found their true use.

    Oh brilliant
  • Disco11Disco11 Registered User regular
    So will they ask people to leave the theater 3/4 of the way through the last movie for the happy ending?

    Post credits scenes have finally found their true use.

    That would be perfect. Flash a couple messages on screen or even have King make an plea at the end and warn people not to stay.

    PSN: Canadian_llama
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    FROM THE MOVIES THREAD
    Preacher wrote: »
    JDM isn't fat...

    No, he's not. I was just saying JDM as old, bald, and fat, like they did at the beginning of Watchmen.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    So Andy Serkis for Oy?

    I vote Rocket for Oy.

  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    The opening line of the movie should be the same as the book, read out loud by Stephen King.

    Really excited for this but also hugely wary. The Dark Tower is a big deal to me and I love them dearly.

    So seeing Idris Elba cast as Roland has me raising an eyebrow. He's a great actor and could do most of the role just fine, but there's a big part of someone else's character that revolved around Roland looking like Clint Eastwood. Idris Elba doesn't look much like Clint Eastwood, so I'm curious how they're going to change those racially based story beats. I worry that with this change they'll have to keep changing things until parts of the story aren't recognizeable. Which may still make a good story, but maybe not the same story I'm hoping to see. But this is just me worrying too much for something I love. I'm hoping everything's great and the few changes they make are fantastic. I want the first season of Game of Thrones, not the most recent one.

    All that would change if he has the horn or something, yeah. That'd be pretty cool. Maybe he'll see the number 20 everywhere, not 19.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    The opening line of the movie should be the same as the book, read out loud by Stephen King.

    Really excited for this but also hugely wary. The Dark Tower is a big deal to me and I love them dearly.

    So seeing Idris Elba cast as Roland has me raising an eyebrow. He's a great actor and could do most of the role just fine, but there's a big part of someone else's character that revolved around Roland looking like Clint Eastwood. Idris Elba doesn't look much like Clint Eastwood, so I'm curious how they're going to change those racially based story beats. I worry that with this change they'll have to keep changing things until parts of the story aren't recognizeable. Which may still make a good story, but maybe not the same story I'm hoping to see. But this is just me worrying too much for something I love. I'm hoping everything's great and the few changes they make are fantastic. I want the first season of Game of Thrones, not the most recent one.

    All that would change if he has the horn or something, yeah. That'd be pretty cool. Maybe he'll see the number 20 everywhere, not 19.

    I wouldn't call it big. I'd call them a series of throwaway lines that change nothing within the story context.

  • RT800RT800 Registered User regular
    I haven't read the Dark Tower in a loooooong time.

    But I recall it got way too meta for me toward the end.

    And I cringe whenever I remember that King actually wrote himself into the books as himself.

  • KrieghundKrieghund Registered User regular
    I gave all of my hardcover size softcover books to my sister a few years ago. It's been a long time since I read them. I may have to get them back for a bit to refresh my memory. After the Great Book Purge of 2013, the only books of King that I kept were the red leather editions of The Stand and IT. Or maybe I'll look and see if they have any special editions that look interesting enough to be on one of the few bookshelves I have left.

  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    The opening line of the movie should be the same as the book, read out loud by Stephen King.

    Really excited for this but also hugely wary. The Dark Tower is a big deal to me and I love them dearly.

    So seeing Idris Elba cast as Roland has me raising an eyebrow. He's a great actor and could do most of the role just fine, but there's a big part of someone else's character that revolved around Roland looking like Clint Eastwood. Idris Elba doesn't look much like Clint Eastwood, so I'm curious how they're going to change those racially based story beats. I worry that with this change they'll have to keep changing things until parts of the story aren't recognizeable. Which may still make a good story, but maybe not the same story I'm hoping to see. But this is just me worrying too much for something I love. I'm hoping everything's great and the few changes they make are fantastic. I want the first season of Game of Thrones, not the most recent one.

    All that would change if he has the horn or something, yeah. That'd be pretty cool. Maybe he'll see the number 20 everywhere, not 19.

    I wouldn't call it big. I'd call them a series of throwaway lines that change nothing within the story context.

    I mean,
    Odetta/Detta's entire relationship with Roland is based on him being a privileged white guy and her distinctly not being that. Changing that changes their dynamic a lot. If they just ignore it that would be super weird.

    Stephen King has said the casting choice is great so I'm hopeful, I just have fanboy concern about change. Maybe they can shift it onto Eddie more, but that would change dynamics as well.

  • KrieghundKrieghund Registered User regular
    I thought Odetta/Dettas issue was that
    she's fucking crazy. Roland could be anybody white, was the issue. In the upcoming movie, they can just use Eddie in that role.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Why are we spoiling things, we are free in here FREE!!!

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    The opening line of the movie should be the same as the book, read out loud by Stephen King.

    Really excited for this but also hugely wary. The Dark Tower is a big deal to me and I love them dearly.

    So seeing Idris Elba cast as Roland has me raising an eyebrow. He's a great actor and could do most of the role just fine, but there's a big part of someone else's character that revolved around Roland looking like Clint Eastwood. Idris Elba doesn't look much like Clint Eastwood, so I'm curious how they're going to change those racially based story beats. I worry that with this change they'll have to keep changing things until parts of the story aren't recognizeable. Which may still make a good story, but maybe not the same story I'm hoping to see. But this is just me worrying too much for something I love. I'm hoping everything's great and the few changes they make are fantastic. I want the first season of Game of Thrones, not the most recent one.

    All that would change if he has the horn or something, yeah. That'd be pretty cool. Maybe he'll see the number 20 everywhere, not 19.

    I wouldn't call it big. I'd call them a series of throwaway lines that change nothing within the story context.

    I mean,
    Odetta/Detta's entire relationship with Roland is based on him being a privileged white guy and her distinctly not being that. Changing that changes their dynamic a lot. If they just ignore it that would be super weird.

    Stephen King has said the casting choice is great so I'm hopeful, I just have fanboy concern about change. Maybe they can shift it onto Eddie more, but that would change dynamics as well.

    Yes, but at the same time there exists another dynamic of
    What is essentially a black guy in a royalty position from a plane of existence where race has no meaning, leading 2 white dudes.

    Which I think could work very, very well with Detta Walker.

  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    The opening line of the movie should be the same as the book, read out loud by Stephen King.

    Really excited for this but also hugely wary. The Dark Tower is a big deal to me and I love them dearly.

    So seeing Idris Elba cast as Roland has me raising an eyebrow. He's a great actor and could do most of the role just fine, but there's a big part of someone else's character that revolved around Roland looking like Clint Eastwood. Idris Elba doesn't look much like Clint Eastwood, so I'm curious how they're going to change those racially based story beats. I worry that with this change they'll have to keep changing things until parts of the story aren't recognizeable. Which may still make a good story, but maybe not the same story I'm hoping to see. But this is just me worrying too much for something I love. I'm hoping everything's great and the few changes they make are fantastic. I want the first season of Game of Thrones, not the most recent one.

    All that would change if he has the horn or something, yeah. That'd be pretty cool. Maybe he'll see the number 20 everywhere, not 19.

    I wouldn't call it big. I'd call them a series of throwaway lines that change nothing within the story context.

    I mean,
    Odetta/Detta's entire relationship with Roland is based on him being a privileged white guy and her distinctly not being that. Changing that changes their dynamic a lot. If they just ignore it that would be super weird.

    Stephen King has said the casting choice is great so I'm hopeful, I just have fanboy concern about change. Maybe they can shift it onto Eddie more, but that would change dynamics as well.

    Yes, but at the same time there exists another dynamic of
    What is essentially a black guy in a royalty position from a plane of existence where race has no meaning, leading 2 white dudes.

    Which I think could work very, very well with Detta Walker.

    Yeah they could definitely do it right and I really hope they do.

    Also they better not make it just 1 movie. I'd like to see a movie covering the Gunslinger, Drawing of the Three, and maybe the start of Wasteland, should be easy enough. Wizard and Glass could be it's own movie, as could Wolves of the Calla. But they could also be really boring movies on their own. Very curious to see the format. A movie for each book seems unlikely.

  • Wraith260Wraith260 Happiest Goomba! Registered User regular
    RT800 wrote: »
    I haven't read the Dark Tower in a loooooong time.

    But I recall it got way too meta for me toward the end.

    And I cringe whenever I remember that King actually wrote himself into the books as himself.

    the worst part about that was him killing off Jake to save himself. i mean, seriously, how many times have you gotta kill that kid Stephen?

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Look Jake is a dick ok, maybe he should die a thousand times!

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Stop using tags!

    Which part of ERMAGERD is giving you trouble?!

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • RT800RT800 Registered User regular
    edited March 2016
    I definitely think The Gunslinger could make a good movie.

    And the Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands maybe.

    But Wizard and Glass and beyond is just the kind of balls up crazy that only works in books.

    RT800 on
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    Stop using tags!

    Which part of ERMAGERD is giving you trouble?!

    ...

    Marten O'Dim is Randall Flag!

  • Regina FongRegina Fong Allons-y, Alonso Registered User regular
    When you die in the Dark Tower you just cease existing in that world and start living in a different one.

    Unless you're Roland I guess.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    When you die in the Dark Tower you just cease existing in that world and start living in a different one.

    Unless you're Roland I guess.

    Don't know, he never died.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    edited March 2016
    What? Wolves of the Calla is straight up Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai. It could be a great movie. Wizard and Glass is a love story about an evil rancher trying to take over a town through nefarious tactics (more or less) and would make a great movie.

    Now, 6 and 7 will be odd but I'm guessing they'll thread in the multiverse stuff earlier on. Perhaps we'll get more Jake stuff faster.

    edit: Not everyone does that, only people who go Todash when they die.

    SniperGuy on
  • Who-PsydWho-Psyd Registered User regular
    SniperGuy wrote: »
    The opening line of the movie should be the same as the book, read out loud by Stephen King.

    Really excited for this but also hugely wary. The Dark Tower is a big deal to me and I love them dearly.

    So seeing Idris Elba cast as Roland has me raising an eyebrow. He's a great actor and could do most of the role just fine, but there's a big part of someone else's character that revolved around Roland looking like Clint Eastwood. Idris Elba doesn't look much like Clint Eastwood, so I'm curious how they're going to change those racially based story beats. I worry that with this change they'll have to keep changing things until parts of the story aren't recognizeable. Which may still make a good story, but maybe not the same story I'm hoping to see. But this is just me worrying too much for something I love. I'm hoping everything's great and the few changes they make are fantastic. I want the first season of Game of Thrones, not the most recent one.

    All that would change if he has the horn or something, yeah. That'd be pretty cool. Maybe he'll see the number 20 everywhere, not 19.

    That was how I always thought any movie/series would work, the whole series is so Meta already may as well start the Movie with a Reference literally only the book readers would understand.

  • RT800RT800 Registered User regular
    edited March 2016
    I dunno this thread makes me want to read the series again to refresh my memory.

    All I really remember is hating Wolves of the Calla so, so much.

    And also hating how Walter O'dim got taken out like a punk by a character that had only been introduced earlier in that very same book. (Dark Tower, not Wolves)

    RT800 on
  • BursarBursar Hee Noooo! PDX areaRegistered User regular
    Making Roland dark-skinned would mean that black people are a lot more commonplace in Roland's world than previously presented to us, which would be fine by me. The awkward pseudo-racist comments tossed around by many characters ("Lady blackbird," etc.) often gave me pause; was King trying to make these people sound hateful, or are they semi-innocently commenting on Susannah's skin because they've honestly never seen a black person before? Honestly, I'd buy either.

    Having Roland played by Elba doesn't bother me. As far as racial tensions go in the books, we've got:
    1) General racism from old-west era times (see how W&G treats the Hispanic analogues). I think we can maybe scrub a little of this without harming the story. Not every Western these days has to be Quentin Tarentino.
    2) Racism when Roland steps into our world briefly. Given that he's done it a) to kill a bunch of people in a gunfight or b) in New England/New York in 2000, avoiding calling his skin color out is again, fine.
    3) Detta v Roland. Detta hated/feared Roland from the first instant he stepped into her mind because (paraphrasing) she could "feel his whiteness" and how easily he was able to overpower her. Making it just an anti-authority streak instead of racially charged is simpler, but doesn't hurt anything in the long run.

    There is one point where his ethnicity does have an impact near the end: Roland is supposed to look uncannily like Stephen King himself, either as an unconscious author insert or maybe a father figure. However, by this point the novels have started to disappear into King's ego as he tied himself into the decades-long run of a series that reached into so many of his other universes. I don't think a Dark Tower movie series will be able to do that, and the existing movies based on King properties don't make DT callbacks, either (I didn't watch Under the Dome, though, so maybe I'm wrong). And, again, we can present Roland as being as important to the Tower as King is to the multiverse without having them be twins.

    I'm going to miss all the references to "bombardier blue eyes," but that's about it.

    GNU Terry Pratchett
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  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    They could always change his eye color for the movie.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • KrieghundKrieghund Registered User regular
    My copy of The Gunslinger had the Whelan art, and it was all King as the gunslinger.

  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    James Spader for Blaine the Mono.

    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • Big DookieBig Dookie Smells great! Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    HOLY SHIT!

    I hope the movie focuses mostly on the second and third books. The Gunslinger is okay on it's own, but really doesn't seem like it would add a lot to the story as a whole in movie format. The only thing I'm not sure if they did that is how they'd handle Roland bringing back Jake, since you wouldn't have that backstory then.

    I really don't know how they're going to do it in general. I started to write out how I though the script might go, but every attempt I made felt pretty hollow and didn't seem to capture the books in any substantial way. I certainly don't think they could go any further than The Waste Lands in a single movie, and even that seems like it's stretching it. You'd probably have to severely condense The Gunslinger, make Drawing the meat of the plot, and round it out with them saving Jake and bringing him into mid-world. I can't see them getting into the shit-storm that is Lud and Blaine, and that last half of Waste Lands would make a great opening act to a second movie.

    Either way, who cares, it's finally coming! There'd better be a 19 in the release date somewhere.

    Steam | Twitch
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  • Psychotic OnePsychotic One The Lord of No Pants Parts UnknownRegistered User regular
    For some reason I just don't see Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black in my head. But then again I have my vision of Randall Flag in my head from The Stand and Gunslinger. I picture someone a little scummier looking like WWE's Dean Ambrose or something along those lines. But I'll avoid making up my mind still I see costume and set design for this movie. So much potential to make an epic saga of movies.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    For some reason I just don't see Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black in my head. But then again I have my vision of Randall Flag in my head from The Stand and Gunslinger. I picture someone a little scummier looking like WWE's Dean Ambrose or something along those lines. But I'll avoid making up my mind still I see costume and set design for this movie. So much potential to make an epic saga of movies.

    I believe King had him more as a Robert Duval. McConaughey can do it, if anything it'll be playing against his usual type.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • KrieghundKrieghund Registered User regular
    McConaughy can do the charming smile to crazy smile in less that three seconds. I think it's a pretty good casting.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    I'm trying to remember how much Flagg was involved in Dark Tower, like he comes up, but not that often. Makes me wonder if they'll write him as a more involved Antagonist and I don't know if that would be wise since the bulk of the story is the world itself as an antagonist to Roland and crew.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • MalReynoldsMalReynolds The Hunter S Thompson of incredibly mild medicines Registered User regular
    Once again championing Aaron Paul for Eddie.

    "A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."
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  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Shame that James Cromwell died, he'd make a good Father Callahan.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • KrieghundKrieghund Registered User regular
    I don't think he comes in until the get out of Lud. He picks up the head guy that kidnapped Jake. I don't think we see him again until Wizard and Glass, I think.

  • Disco11Disco11 Registered User regular
    Rolan's main characteristic is that he's hard and does not speak much.

    Idris has that in spades and is exudes a dark, brooding charisma.

    if King is happy, so am I.

    And Matthew Mcconaughey as the man in black? Get the fuck out of here if you don't think that's plain perfect casting.

    Like, this is the illustration from one of the books.

    latest?cb=20120112183443

    PSN: Canadian_llama
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