# The Dark Tower in theaters! (Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176 "2017-07-13T16:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/1 "2017-07-13T16:46:29Z")
Movie’s not out at this point, but I’m putting this discussion under a spoiler alert so we can discuss the books and the movie (when it’s released). Been seeing previews for Stephen King’s Dark Tower movie on television the last couple days. It says it’s a “sequel”, which I guess allows them to veer away from the book storyline or stay the same wherever they want. Given that Roland is doing the same quest over and over again (like Groundhog Day), that makes sense, but I wonder where they’re going with it. Not sure if this is the only movie, or the first in a series… I think the 3rd or 4th book was the last one I read. I stopped buying new books for a while, and by time I started back up again the series was finished. From what I’ve heard and what people were saying (including Dopers) about the last few books I felt like King botched it and didn’t want to finish it. I kind of want to see this though, just to see where they go with it. They have some freedom to fix the botched books by making it one of Roland’s “repeats”, hopefully the one where he gets it right. I’m still debating on whether to pick up the rest of the books and finish reading the series. So, what are your thoughts/anticipations? And if/when you see it, what do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/2 "2017-07-13T23:29:49Z")
I am both looking forward to and dreading this movie. I fear they have screwed it up big time and the rest of the books will not be made. They should have taken it straight to TV series, like Game of Thrones. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/3 "2017-07-13T23:40:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I am both looking forward to and dreading this movie. I fear they have screwed it up big time and the rest of the books will not be made. > > They should have taken it straight to TV series, like Game of Thrones. I saw a comment, maybe here, that based on the preview, the title should be _Dark Tower: The Reloader._ Sure are a lot of clever ways to load a gun in this movie. I have this feeling that what we’re going to get is a boilerplate action flick with a veneer of Dark Tower on top. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/4 "2017-07-14T03:01:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I am both looking forward to and dreading this movie. I fear they have screwed it up big time and the rest of the books will not be made. > > They should have taken it straight to TV series, like Game of Thrones. I just read an article that 1)they fit all the novels into a single film and 2)Steven King said its not really his novel but he enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/5 "2017-07-14T03:19:32Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I just read an article that 1)they fit all the novels into a single film and 2)Steven King said its not really his novel but he enjoyed it. Wha? I thought this was part one and that they were continuing on TV and with further movies. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/6 "2017-07-14T05:43:09Z")
I get the feeling they did the World War Z treatment for this. In the case of WWZ, someone slapped the title of a really good book with a unique style onto a generic race-against-time zombie action flick that bore not even a passing resemblance to the source. In the case of The Dark Tower, someone is slapping the name of King’s series onto a soup made of boiled-down generic sci fi, western, fantasy, and modern action scripts. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/7 "2017-07-14T06:15:58Z")
It’s a Stephen King movie, what could go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/8 "2017-07-14T07:45:47Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I get the feeling they did the World War Z treatment for this. In the case of WWZ, someone slapped the title of a really good book with a unique style onto a generic race-against-time zombie action flick that bore not even a passing resemblance to the source. In the case of The Dark Tower, someone is slapping the name of King’s series onto a soup made of boiled-down generic sci fi, western, fantasy, and modern action scripts. I sadly lost hope for the project when I found out Akiva Goldsman was writing the screenplay. You may recall him as the ruiner of such film adaptations as I Robot, I Am Legend, Lost in Space, and Batman & Robin. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/9 "2017-07-14T14:38:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I sadly lost hope for the project when I found out Akiva Goldsman was writing the screenplay. You may recall him as the ruiner of such film adaptations as I Robot, I Am Legend, Lost in Space, and Batman & Robin. All very fun films, in my opinion. It just won’t be The Dark Tower. It won’t even _try_ to be The Dark Tower. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/10 "2017-07-14T14:47:08Z")
For those (like me) looking for an adaptation of the series, we are going to be very disappointed. It’s obvious that this is more of “_The Further Adventures of Roland in the Land of Mid-World and Earth_” than **The Dark Tower**. Characters are dropped (the movie has no Eddie, or Detta/Odetta/Susannah/Mia, and no Oy), and very minor characters from books 5-7 apparently are front and center here. The original concept was to film the books in some semblance of an order, possibly tying in the **Wizard and Glass** backstory as a TV series. However, that depends on how much they have mixed and matched and made up out of whole cloth the events in this movie. If it is too far afield, then there won’t even be any pretense of sticking with King’s story, and it’ll be **Under the Dome** all over again. Also, any future movies or TV will likely depend on this movie making big $$, enough to finance further endeavors. And I just can’t see that happening. **Dark Tower** fans are likely to be disappointed, and folks not familiar with the novels will likely leave this movie scratching their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/11 "2017-07-14T15:26:09Z")
My concern is that its (apparently inevitable) failure will, effectively, prevent anyone from attempting an actual adaptation of the books. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/12 "2017-07-14T16:27:46Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > All very fun films, in my opinion. It just won’t be The Dark Tower. It won’t even _try_ to be The Dark Tower. Then why _call_ it the Dark Tower? Why not The Fearless Zombie Hunter at the End of Time? ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/13 "2017-07-18T17:29:31Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Then why _call_ it the Dark Tower? Why not The Fearless Zombie Hunter at the End of Time? Probably because then they’ll have a built-in fan base waiting eagerly (or cringing) in anticipation. Said fans will bring it up with non-fans and draw more people in. Not saying the movie will or won’t follow or even resemble the books, just answering the previous question… Although taking out everyone in Roland’s party seems a bit…strange. I dunno, I’d really have to see it in a theater. It could be either really good or really bad. Maybe King’s lack of involvement is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/14 "2017-07-18T19:01:05Z")
Two unrelated but relevant items: 1. I was at the movies with a friend who has never read a page of Stephen King in his life. We saw a new trailer for this and he said, “That looks cool. I want to see it.” So whatever else, the marketing is working. 2. Saw an article which I can’t link to at the moment that the movie is only 90 minutes. That seems awfully short. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/15 "2017-07-20T10:35:10Z")
The definitive film re: The Dark Tower, arguably, would be based on “The Drawing of Three.” Looks like they are just making a Roland/Jake action flick. Kinda Harry Potter-ish. I get it, and I look forward to watching it, hopefully in a late-summer showing at the nearby drive-in. But I know how to enjoy the effort while being disappointed at the same time. They should’ve just stuck to a long tv series, IMO. No better time for that kind of show. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/16 "2017-07-20T13:00:58Z")
I’ve only read The Gunslinger, and will eventually get to the rest of the series. My understanding is that the story takes place in a cyclical world; ending and restarting kind of thing. Since the movie is supposed to be a continuation of the novels, I assume it will center on trying to end the cycle. Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/17 "2017-07-26T01:29:19Z")
Huge Stephen King and DT nerd here. I think this is literally the first time in my life I have circled a movie’s release date on my calendar. I fear disappointment. Based on the wikipedia article, it appears that \*\*divemaster \*\*is right; there will be no Eddie, Susannah, or Oy and the plot will consist of elements from all of the books. Looking at the list of main actors and their characters, I don’t recognize most of the character names, there appears to be at least one character who only appeared in Book Seven…but Roland’s father and Susan Delgado also appear. So who the hell knows what this is going to be? I can’t even imagine how you would decide to film these books and leave out most of the ka-tet. The article does say that there is a TV series planned for next year based on _Wizard and Glass_, but the cite on that is almost a year old so who knows. I saw the trailer in a theatre last weekend and it looked like a crappy SF shoot-em-up, although I got goosebumps at the specific DT material (like "I do not aim with my hand…). I am trying to keep an open mind…clearly this isn’t the faithful adaptation I would have hoped for, but I am hoping to at least like it. I’ll let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/18 "2017-07-26T13:34:04Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > For those (like me) looking for an adaptation of the series, we are going to be very disappointed. It’s obvious that this is more of “_The Further Adventures of Roland in the Land of Mid-World and Earth_” than **The Dark Tower**. Characters are dropped (the movie has no Eddie, or Detta/Odetta/Susannah/Mia, and no Oy), and very minor characters from books 5-7 apparently are front and center here. Ah. So it’s a nope then. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/19 "2017-07-26T14:06:16Z")
If Susan Delgado is dropped in there (even if just in a flashback), then Roland’s current lifetime is NOT a reboot, then. That’s even more hosed than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176/20 "2017-07-26T14:21:51Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > If Susan Delgado is dropped in there (even if just in a flashback), then Roland’s current lifetime is NOT a reboot, then. That’s even more hosed than I imagined. He can meet Susan more than once. Ka. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-tower-in-theaters-spoilers/791176.md?page=2)