Dark Towers Fans

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was reading about the guy who died a year after running over Mr. King. That had some comments about the Dark Tower series, so I thought I’d put this in a new thread.

I had an idea about the Dark Tower series while I was reading them when I was in Iceland back in 96. I was reading them and wanting to see a movie made from them. That was an absurdity, because to make a movie on that series, even somewhat loosely based on it, would be extremely long, and somewhat confusing.

That’s when it hit me. Spawn was a cartoon series on HBO. At that point it was something like 6hrs of video, and still more coming. There should be a Dark Towers animated series. It would be able to keep to the story, and leave nothing out. We could see those things that would be almost impossible to see in a movie. They could do it an hour at a time, or so. Eventually it would catch up to King’s writing, because the material is already there, just waiting to be drawn.

What are you thinking about this? Is it a good idea?

2

I highly doubt any producer would be able to do it justice. King is jinxed. I can only count a few of his screen adaptations that are watchable. I know the Shining is thought of as some great cinematic feat, but the movie is completely and wholly Stanley Kubrick’s. I remember seeing it on opening night with my fellow King fans, and being sickened at the way Kubrick changed so many key elements in the movie.

Cujo? Lawnmower Man III? Children of the Corn… VI? Pet Sematary II? The Mangler? Tommyknockers?

There have been a few good ones – the Green Mile and (Rita Hayworth and the) Shawshank Redemption come to mind. But wow, talk about hit and miss.

I’d rather leave Roland in my mind, thanks.

3

I agree an animated series is a possibility, but finding a good prouducer would be a big problem.

On the other hand, I did like The Stand, as it was on TV. Getting through the book should be an olympic event.

4

Part of me would love to see the Dark Tower series in movie form (actually, I’d like to see the rest of it in book form first :)), but I think it would just be a letdown. Most of King’s books have not survived the transition to movies or television in any form that I would consider tolerable. I remember being absolutely disgusted when The Running Man came out in theaters. I found the book to be an interesting take on race/class relations and the role of mass media in society (plus, it was a kick-ass story). But the movie??? They barely managed to keep the names of some of the characters, for pete’s sake! The Shining was a good movie in its own right (I’m a big Kubrick fan), but Kubrick totally missed the point of the book. Maximum Overdrive was just ridiculous. And don’t get me started on Pet Sematary.

5

Best Movies based on books by King:
Stand By Me
The Apt Pupil
Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Thinner

The first three are from ‘Different Seasons.’ The ‘winter’ story is ‘The Breathing Method’ which I doubt will come out as a movie. The first story is ‘The Body’ renamed ‘Stand By Me.’ ‘Apt Pupil’ was actually a better movie than the story. They changed the ending and it had a better/darker ending. Well, I dunno. In the story the kid shoots cars then himself, but I liked the movie better.

I agree, the producer would have to be a good one, one with a good sight of what King has written. They’d have to be North American, possibly European, but not Asian. I’d bet Todd MacFarlane would do a good job. I like the Spawn series, but I’d like it to be a little more detailed.

6

Brood McEto mentions the following movies. My twopence:

Stand By Me…Short story.
The Apt Pupil…Short story.
Shawshank Redemption…Short story.
The Green Mile…Serialized novel
Thinner…Penned under pseudonym (Richard Bachman)

What does this say? I think his short stories and novellas have done the best in transitioning to the screen. Thinner? THINNER? You thought that was good? I don’t think it did well in theaters.

7

Hey, other than the glurge ending, the televised mini-series “The Stand” was excellent. And so was the televised mini-series “The Shining” because King was the producer and did the screenplay adaptation himself. I think that as long as King as control over the whole project, it’ll be good. Especially now that he has more experience in the movie area.

8

As long as he doesn’t insist on appearing in it. Writing he can do, acting he cannot.

9

According to King’s website, “Eyes of the Dragon” is to be adapted as an animation project.

Speaking of the OP, anyone here besides me have the audiobook versions of pt. 1-3 read by King? The newer versions have Frank Mueller (sp) doing them. He also did pt. 4 even though I had read that King was supposed to read it. I think it’s better that the authors read their own stories since they know how much emotion to put into it.

IMHO, remember in pt. 1 where Roland has to gun down ALL the inhabitants of the town? Check out the scene in Clint’s “Unforgiven” where he guns down the gang at the end of the movie. When I saw that scene, that part of the book flashed into my mind.

10

Actually, Brood, to get back to your OP, I think this is a spectacular idea! Of course, only HBO would be able to do it justice as the story necessarily involves more violence and gore than network TV would handle. Plus, that way there’s no $#^ irritating commercial breaks.

However, it would HAVE to be done by a decent animating house. I can’t stand that Asian junk where the framerate is so low (6? 8 fps?) that you can practically see each one. In my dreamworld, they’d use the same level of quality that was done in Roger Rabbit, where the animation was all drawn at the same framerate as the live-action stuff… whatever the standard is for that. 32 fps, I think? Anyone?

Mr. Blue, I only wish there were some way you could be wrong about Eyes of the Dragon. That’s a story that needs to stay dead. Mr. King usually writes a very good, real, gritty story, but a fantasist he’s not. <shudder>

And, c’mon, xizor, give him a break. It’s not like he’s on screen for all that long. I think his longest bit was Creepshow, and who watched that anyway?

11

I’d agree with you, except some authors SUCK at reading aloud, even if it is their own work. I’ve heard some really bad ones. I don’t think King is one of the good ones, either. However, a trained actor can usually do a good job of it. For example, the actress who read the Dean Koontz novel “Intensity” did a really, well, intense job of it…

12

According to what I read

The Dark Tower series is Kings sweet baby and he writes on it when it suits him. 1-3 rocked the ass however the backstory of 4 was weak. As I hear, King has no objections to doing it however I think he will wait till the entire series is done. At this point, I figure we got about 38 years till its done.

13

The Mist Movie
Film rights are owned by Frank Darabont; production has not begun at this time.

One of the coolest short stories he has written.

14

Roland and Cuthbert are such vivid characters in my mind’s eye. I don’t think I’d trust someone else’s interpretation of them.
Who am I kiddin’…I’d go see it in a NY minute.

15

Here’s a site that does “Dreamcasts” - casting movies that will most likely never be made: http://www.needcoffee.com/html/dreamcasts.html

Here’s what they’ve got for The Dark Tower

DreamCrew:

Director - Clint Eastwood
Producer - George Lucas
Screenwriter - Frank Darabont
Musical Score - Ennio Morricone

DreamCast:

The Ka-Tet:

Roland Deschain of Gilead, Son of Steven - Robert John Burke
John “Jake” Chambers - Jake Lloyd
Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker/Susannah Dean - Angela Bassett
Eddie Dean - Peter Berg
Oy - Henson Creature Shop

Tull and the Desert:

Walter, the Man in Black - Steve Buscemi
Brown, the hut-dweller - Eric Stoltz
Sheb McCurdy, the piano player - Harry Dean Stanton
Alice “Allie”, the bar keep - Marg Helgenberger
Nort, the weed eater - Dick Miller
Sylvia Pittston, the preacher - Kathy Bates

Our World:

Jack Mort, the pusher - Willem Dafoe
Henry Dean, Eddie’s brother - Tim Roth
Elmer Chambers, Jake’s father - Burt Reynolds
Mrs. Chambers, Jake’s mother - Christine Dunford
Greta Shaw, the Chambers’ housekeeper - Joan Plowright
Enrico Balazar, the drug lord - Dennis Farina
Jack Andolini, Balazar’s thug - Brian Thompson
Calvin Tower, the bookstore owner - Danny Aiello
“Fat Johnny” Holden, the gunstore clerk - Philip Seymour Hoffman

That’s just a sample - they’ve done all the books. I don’t agree with all the choices, but it’s fun to read.

And just for the record, I would LOVE to see an animated “Eyes of the Dragon.” Sure, it’s not “traditional” King, but he didn’t mean it to be. But then, I’m a sucker for anthropomorphic dog characters.

16

Nah. No one could do it right, and boy would you piss off a lot of fans. I mean, I’m not even sure King himself will be able to do justice to the actual Dark Tower, if it has ever reached. How do you describe something you’ve been building up for over ten years?

AerynSun: Hmmm. I gotta disagree with those people; Steve Buscemi ain’t no man in black. He’s too funny.

Oh, and correct if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the man in black say “Life is pain. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something”? And didn’t the main character in The Princess Bride (a man in black) say the same thing? (Princess Bride coming first.)

And all of you Dark Tower fans, read Hearts in Atlantis. It’s a very good book, and there are some ties to the series in it.

17

You guys really like the story that much? I wanted to like it. I tried to like it. Hell, I DID like it at first. I LOVED reading about Roland, and him going through the doors (it’s been several years, so I might not have this all correct) and saving the drug dealer. I loved the way King described Roland drinking a cola for the first time. (isn’t that a weird thing to remember?) It really bothered me that he lost part of a hand by those uber-crabs on the beach. It tore me up to think of pushing a wheel chair through a sandy beach. Then it started getting so weird that I couldn’t keep interested. Up until then I couldn’t stop reading.

Convince me I need to start reading the series again.

18

I always like King’s comment from one of the postscripts to The Dark Tower that the series was like the Jupiter of his fictional universe. Everything else connected in a weird way - hell, look all the way back at the Black Hotel in “Talisman,” which is obviously some form of the Dark Tower.

Oh, and I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned “Misery” as a great King adaptation. Benefits from great direction, great writing and great acting. I still find it hard to believe that this is the movie that William Goldman and Rob Reiner (who also directed “Stand by Me” collaborated on after "The Princess Bride).

19

Eddie vs. Blaine in a riddle contest at the beginning of “Wizard & Glass.” Trust me. The use of character here is just phenomonal, in showing how the katet feeds off of their strengths and weeknesses. And Eddie just rocks in dealing with his personal demons. If I had to play a part in the movie (not that there will ever be one), this is the part I want - noble in a stunted sort of way.

20

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
At one time, Wilem DaFoe woulda made a good Roland.