The dark tower movie

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Oct 30, 2008
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Hi everyone, first time iv posted, but long time SK fan, the long walk was my first SK adventure, and it's probably still my favorite.......I, as well as you, recently found out that Idris Elba has been confirmed as the gunslinger in the upcoming epic story that is the dark tower...........now I wasn't best pleased with this choice of casting..........I'm not racist and I am probably , ignorantly un PC without really meaning to be, bit I couldn't see it working........however, I have recently watched Luther......and he is a top actor and I'm warming to the idea of him as Roland......if it was up to me it would be Guy Pearce, or Viggo, but like I say I can see Idris doing a good job.......anyone else agree ??
 

FlakeNoir

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Apr 11, 2006
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Hi everyone, first time iv posted, but long time SK fan, the long walk was my first SK adventure, and it's probably still my favorite.......I, as well as you, recently found out that Idris Elba has been confirmed as the gunslinger in the upcoming epic story that is the dark tower...........now I wasn't best pleased with this choice of casting..........I'm not racist and I am probably , ignorantly un PC without really meaning to be, bit I couldn't see it working........however, I have recently watched Luther......and he is a top actor and I'm warming to the idea of him as Roland......if it was up to me it would be Guy Pearce, or Viggo, but like I say I can see Idris doing a good job.......anyone else agree ??
Until I hear otherwise from Stephen's personal assistant, I'm still going with it not as yet being confirmed.
 

Blake

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Feb 18, 2013
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He was good, I thought in the second Ghostrider movie, but I've always had to idea with him that he is more like not the leading man type even though I haven't seen much of his stuff. What I don't know is are they go to have Roland's family black as well or was there a black milkman hanging around. I hope they casted this thinking it would add to the movie and not as some pc bullshit.
 

Blake

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Feb 18, 2013
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He was good, I thought in the second Ghostrider movie, but I've always had to idea with him that he is more like not the leading man type even though I haven't seen much of his stuff. What I don't know is are they go to have Roland's family black as well or was there a black milkman hanging around. I hope they casted this thinking it would add to the movie and not as some pc bullshit.
Having thought about it I think it might be a good idea. I think they should keep the Deschain's white and maybe have their son die of a plague or violence and they come across this orphaned kid (Elba) and they raise him as their own. Or, papa Deschain's gunslinger mate-who is a black man-had a deal that if either of them died they would have to raise the other's child as their own.
 
I see no reason that Elba can't play this part. The only plot they'd have to change from the book is to make Detta's vicious remarks more about Eddie than Roland...end of adjustment.
Having thought about it I think it might be a good idea. I think they should keep the Deschain's white and maybe have their son die of a plague or violence and they come across this orphaned kid (Elba) and they raise him as their own. Or, papa Deschain's gunslinger mate-who is a black man-had a deal that if either of them died they would have to raise the other's child as their own
I can't see any reason at all to go to this creative length....there's enough actual story to tell without adding more backstory on top of things.
 

AnnaMarie

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Feb 16, 2012
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I see no reason that Elba can't play this part. The only plot they'd have to change from the book is to make Detta's vicious remarks more about Eddie than Roland...end of adjustment.

It completely changes Detta's entire relationship with Roland. Maybe they just don't want to deal with the whole hating a white person "thing". They will completely ignore Detta's backstory.

I thought they made a royal mess of Under the Dome. Seems this one might be competing for that. It's Dark Tower in name only.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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I was about to say let me have him for a few days.......I'll grizzle him up for ya!..;;D
scott-eastwood-sexiest-moments.jpg
....does this scream "Gunslinger" or what???.....c'mon-he's perfect!!!!.....:biggrin2:
 

Takoren

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Nov 25, 2015
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My issue with Scott Eastwood is that he's not just too young, he's too pretty and soft. And I mean even outside that picture GNTLGNT posted. He'd almost make a better Eddie, but he's a bit on the old side.

I still think an unknown would be best.

Someone on a comments section said that if Elba is cast, they can change Detta's racism against Roland into castigating him as an "Uncle Tom" and refer to Eddie as Roland's white "massa", which would be an interesting take considering that at no point would the viewer see Eddie as anything other than significantly inferior to Roland. This...is interesting. It could even actually work.

That said, I still don't want to see a "reinterpretation" of Roland or this story. I want to see the book come to life. I don't always expect this, but when it's something well-loved by many (in this case including me) I strongly prefer it. Any time Hollywood has underestimated how loved a certain work is, they've ended up regretting it (witness the first attempt to film LOTR back in the late 70's or Demi Moore's feminist take on the puritanical The Scarlet Letter, or the adaptation of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising). The list is too long to go over here, but literally every time they've decided to take a classic novel with tons of devoted fans and adapt it into something that only superficially resembles the book, the result is a big, stinking bomb. Why do they keep doing it?

For what it's worth, Elba's potential casting is only the latest thing that makes me think they're gonna screw this up. There's also the mere fact of Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman's involvement, the seeming rush to get this filmed, the comments I've heard about the different directions the screenplay will take, and the idea of casting Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black.

"Well, Gunslaynger! How well ya fulfeel the prawphecies of owld! Whazzup, whazzup whazzup?"
 
It completely changes Detta's entire relationship with Roland. Maybe they just don't want to deal with the whole hating a white person "thing". They will completely ignore Detta's backstory.

I thought they made a royal mess of Under the Dome. Seems this one might be competing for that. It's Dark Tower in name only.
Once Detta become Suzanna the antagnostic part of Dettas personality toward Roland is a non issue. Film versions tend to gloss over the backstories anyway. I think they can do it with little fuss.

I have heard similar complaints about UTD though.
 
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Robert Gray

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Once Detta become Suzanna the antagnostic part of Dettas personality toward Roland is a non issue. Film versions tend to gloss over the backstories anyway. I think they can do it with little fuss.

I have heard similar complaints about UTD though.

I beg to differ. Detta takes a good long while to fade even after Suzanna is made whole. More to the point, the distinct backgrounds (and ethnic differences) between Suzanna and the other two adds a great deal of depth and dimension. Differences between characters in a story are like facets on gems. Watering them down and/or changing them for some idiotic convenience destroys the actual story and replaces it with something else. More to the point, Detta is not backstory. The events take place in the story, and are a big part of it. I am not a fan of it when people refer to character as backstory. It tends to mean they think the guns and action sequences are the story. The story is the characters. I want to echo what AnnaMarie said, and tweak it slightly. If you eliminate character, there is no story left.
 

Takoren

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Nov 25, 2015
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I beg to differ. Detta takes a good long while to fade even after Suzanna is made whole. More to the point, the distinct backgrounds (and ethnic differences) between Suzanna and the other two adds a great deal of depth and dimension. Differences between characters in a story are like facets on gems. Watering them down and/or changing them for some idiotic convenience destroys the actual story and replaces it with something else. More to the point, Detta is not backstory. The events take place in the story, and are a big part of it. I am not a fan of it when people refer to character as backstory. It tends to mean they think the guns and action sequences are the story. The story is the characters. I want to echo what AnnaMarie said, and tweak it slightly. If you eliminate character, there is no story left.
Beautifully said. I have heard supposed fans of this series describe Detta's characterization as a "b-plot". This is why they're wrong.