Who is going to play Susanna....Goldie Hawn, I suppose?
Elba's Casting CONFIRMED?!!
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Well, on the plus side- Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar........
Patience, boys and girls. We will all get the Dark Tower we desire. It will just not be in 2017. Several years after this has passed us by, and King is lamenting on how his greatest written work was treated with no more regard than a pinch of owl s***, a film producer with clout and who is actually a fan of the series will step forward and offer to remake it. They will decide an HBO, Netflix style production is the best way to go, and the fans will rejoice. I have come to terms I will just have to wait longer.
Now I must go and ponder the fact that I am officially a racist according to the internet. Go figure.
On the plus side, this whole ordeal with bring awareness to The Dark Tower series, and we will have an influx of fans who will realize they have been missing out.
Now I must go and ponder the fact that I am officially a racist according to the internet. Go figure.
On the plus side, this whole ordeal with bring awareness to The Dark Tower series, and we will have an influx of fans who will realize they have been missing out.
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....well see now, this got me thinking....if I'm a David Duke of Literature because I don't approve of a black man being cast in the role of a white character-not because they can't act or because of their skin color, but BECAUSE THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT WAS WRITTEN!!!....does it also make me a hater because I've always been intrigued by the SLOW mutants?...whoo, don't mention them!....better change that casting to schnauzers wearing warpaint----NOPE!, can't do that.....anyway, do these people crying "racist" even fathom the level of hatred and despisement it takes to BE a racist???....I think not.....just because I don't care for this man as Roland does not make me a loather of African Americans, anymore than if someone was doing the life of Amelia Earhart and cast Lucy Liu as the aviatrix.....it is wrong fundamentally-that is not who these people or characters are, and not as they lived or were created.....I have come to the obvious conclusion that this is not going to be the film we the CR's have been yearning for....and it may be a perfectly wonderful endeavor.....but the big empty spot in my heart is now bottomless.....
Apparently it's official.
Stephen King (@StephenKing) tweeted at 9:58 AM on Tue, Mar 01, 2016: It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba (Stephen King on Twitter: "It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba") Get the official Twitter app at Download the free Twitter app | Twitter
Stephen King (@StephenKing) tweeted at 9:58 AM on Tue, Mar 01, 2016: It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba (Stephen King on Twitter: "It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba") Get the official Twitter app at Download the free Twitter app | Twitter
He not only won an Oscar. He gave an excellent speech in favor of saving the environment.
I agree,that is just a fundamental difference that is hard to overcome in my mind.It reminds me of an adaptation of one of my favorite John Sandford Prey books,Mind Prey,in 1999,the character Lucas Davenport was played by Eriq LaSalle..it stunk..same kind of circumstance,the character is written as a white,ex jock cop who earned a bundle in computer programming.Well,LaSalle brought to the character an urban note,leather jacket kind of thing that was just the antithesis of the character.It was awful,and I couldn't even watch it..Later they did another Prey movie with Mark Harmon as the character,and he wasn't much better..I just don't get the reasoning for going so completely off the rails,to make some point,or save some money,or what,but it does leave a bad taste in the reader's mouth like it or not.Yes,we did not write the books and have no claim to what happens to the stories,but we also have been faithful and constant readers,and I don't think it is a big thing to stick fairly close to what the original storyline and character descriptions were..guess I am miffed again,
..just my two cents..
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I too am not enthused about casting Elba as Roland. Mainly because I forever picture Clint Eastwood as Roland. I'm willing, however, to give Elba, and the casting director, the benefit of the doubt. Elba might be brilliant, in which case I will be very happy.
As far as casting, how about casting Zoe Zaldana as Susannah?
I'm curious if this level of vitriol was engendered when Morgan Freeman was cast as Red? I don't remember anything like that, but I'm not a huge fan of that movie, either. To me, unless the character's race is central to his or her character (or in the case of historical figures), it doesn't matter who is cast. Roland being white has nothing to do with his character, what he can or can't do, or who he is. It's a negative sum--it doesn't matter what color his skin happens to be. My concern was for the conflict relationship set up with Odetta/Detta, because that racial conflict is what drives her to change and Roland and Eddie to grow--it drives their relationship. I've been thinking about it, especially in light of the tremendous job they've done so far with the many differences between book and film of 11/22/63, and if they can set up a believable conflict relationship that would drive similar changes, it doesn't have to be a racial conflict. My daughter pointed out that it could just as easily be a conflict between economic classes (i.e., Detta sees Roland as a rich black man and herself as poor and downtrodden--that is essentially what Odetta is manifesting when she creates the vaudevillian 'darkie' that is Detta. With no real life experience of what a poorer black woman might sound like, she falls back on Butterfly McQueen/minstrel show patois.)--that was very much in line with conflicts within the civil rights movement in the 60s and would resonate more today.
It will be interesting to see what happens (or if this project even advances).
It will be interesting to see what happens (or if this project even advances).
From the EW interview:
Arcel acknowledges that skin color actually was an important factor in the relationship between Roland and Susannah, the black amputee he drew into his world from her life in 1964. In the books, she is not thrilled to find herself yanked into another dimension by a grizzled white guy. “Some fans are asking, understandably, ‘What about the racial tension?’” Arcel says. “But as the story progresses that will be made clear, how we’ll deal with all those things.”
Apparently race is very important in and to TDT. I'm sure Mr. King was well aware of this when he created these characters.
Wait...wha??? SkiMom2, you're not a fan of the Shawshank Redemption? Blasphemy!
Other than that, I agree with everything you said and wish I could give you multiple likes.
Look, they're going to change the books a lot. I'm not expecting them to do a very faithful adaptation, and when all is said and done I bet Roland's skin color is going to be my least concern. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I doubt it.
And while they're changing things, I hope they remove the
Other than that, I agree with everything you said and wish I could give you multiple likes.
Look, they're going to change the books a lot. I'm not expecting them to do a very faithful adaptation, and when all is said and done I bet Roland's skin color is going to be my least concern. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I doubt it.
And while they're changing things, I hope they remove the
meta-plot of Stephen King being a keystone character. Oh, and the references to Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Dr. Doom. Maybe just all of Wolves of the Calla. Yeah, take that out. Probably most of Song of Susannah, too.
Your spoiler gets my
I loved the story Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. LOVED IT. The movie was just okay for me--I think that's probably the price for having loved the story so much. No movie was ever going to live up to that standard. I should probably watch it again, to see if I can get outside the 'book box' enough to enjoy it for what is is, rather than worry about what it isn't.
Beg to differ. The Dark Tower is the SK bible, and you don't change the bible. I expect Dark Tower 1 to be filmed complete. The other titles could be filmed with more leeway. Please, Hollywood, don't screw this up.
Did you read the EW article prufrock? Apart from the classic opening line of The Gunslinger the movie apparently will focus well after The Gunslinger.
It's a story, better than some King stories, not as good as others. What works on the page doesn't always work in a visual medium, which is a big reason why movies of Mr. King's books and stories are oftentimes either very different from the source material or laughably bad. Mr. King generally has a lot going on in inner monologue or narrative, which is often unfilmable. DT has a lot of action, and that will help the movie making process, but a genuine translation of book to film isn't going to happen. There are long stretches of walking/travel, flashbacks to the past, thinking powerful thoughts while doing mundane things. There are passages that are dated. There are passages that would require permissions that are likely to be expensive, if obtainable at all. And there are passages that drag on the page that aren't likely to make a cut to the far more expensive medium of film. Each page of script averages a minute of film. There are a lot of pages in this saga. Frankly, I'll be surprised if all 7 get made.
Right now, I'm curious which version of the battle in Tull will make the cut: the original (my preference) or the rewrite.
Right now, I'm curious which version of the battle in Tull will make the cut: the original (my preference) or the rewrite.
OoO, do you have a link to that article? I'm curious!
Home page and SKMB News have it, too, but here's the link:
The Dark Tower: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey cast in Stephen King movie | EW.com