I didn't really change much of it because I liked the original post as it was. And thankfully, since I mostly chose actors who are comfortable doing both film and television, I didn't really have to update the cast for the most part, though I did remove Helena Bonham Carter. I also took my alternate Rolands away since Langley Kirkwood was far and away the reader pick for that role.
Really, this story belongs on TV. It's just so detailed. I picture this series running for about five seasons. But wait, I hear you cry, weren't there seven books? Yes, and that was about two more than were necessary. It would not trouble me at all if the writers of the TV series, and I want this to involve Frank Darabont and Daniel Knauf in some capacity, were to completely re-write the ending, and by that I mean the last three books.
For a while, I thought The Dark Tower would need to be movies because it's this series that ties King's mythos together. I compared it to the MCU's Avengers films. But now I think it's more like this is the Agents of SHIELD of the SKCU, only with way more interaction with the films.
So for The Drawing of the Three, I will be approaching it as though it were Season Two of the TV series, and as for the flashbacks in The Gunslinger and practically the whole of Wizard and Glass, these events will unfold throughout the series rather than as one big story smack in the middle.
As I explained in the edited post, the film version currently in the works appears to be going the "in name only" route, casting actors that are nothing like the characters and apparently starting in the middle and mostly keeping the setting in "our" world, focusing on Jake instead of Roland, who will be more like a mentor figure. The fact that they've made a prominent character with the same name as a background character tells me that whatever this movie turns out like, it won't be The Dark Tower. I'm calling it The Grey Castle from now on because I don't see it as anything close to The Dark Tower.
Unless we're talking about the Men in Black franchise, any time producers feel like they can screw around with a story and produce something that bears little to no resemblance to the source material, what you end up with is a giant stinking bomb, and I am 99.999% sure that's what will happen here. Thankfully, this means that if someone (Darabont? Knauf?) tries to do it again and do it the right way, people will be responsive, rather than asking "why are you making this again?"
I guess I still kind of hope that the movie they make ends up being good. But only kind of, for most of the reasons you list here.
ReplyDeleteI'd be a lot more excited about your version!
Someone on a message board pretty much hit the nail on the head as to why this story shouldn't be screwed around with to the apparent degree they'll be doing so.
DeleteShe said that unlike Shakespeare, Robin Hood stories, King Arthur stories, Superman, Batman, et al, The Dark Tower not only hasn't been done to death, it's never been adapted at all (aside from the dollar baby, which I mention so that you won't say "well, actually...").
Movies that are once again adapting something we've already seen countless times need to do something to set themselves apart from previous versions, or even take the characters and tell a wholly different story. But we're not at that point with The Dark Tower yet. We're not even to the "original film version" point yet. And already the producers are deciding it needs to be altered beyond recognition.