Stephen King's Dark Tower movie (Spoiler Alert!)

[Cambo]

I would have picked Viggo as well, I thought that after seeing his role in A History of Violence.

[Horrim Carabal]

Bardem would make a better Randall Flagg.

Although I could see Mortensen in that role as well. Playing against type as a villain. Flagg is referred to as "handsome" at times.

Christopher Lee should be cast as the Crimson King.

[Cambo]

I wonder how they'll handle Flagg in the movie. There's so many different versions of him. The Flagg in Eyes of the Dragon was closest to the DT version, but neither of them really had much to do with the original from The Stand

[Cail]

Bardem would make a better Randall Flagg.

Although I could see Mortensen in that role as well. Playing against type as a villain. Flagg is referred to as "handsome" at times.

Ever see The Prophesy? Mortensen would make an awesome Flagg, and it's perfectly in type.

[Horrim Carabal]

I wonder how they'll handle Flagg in the movie. There's so many different versions of him. The Flagg in Eyes of the Dragon was closest to the DT version, but neither of them really had much to do with the original from The Stand

Well, it's all the same guy. King has said he moves between the worlds.

btw...Eyes of the Dragon was the first King book I ever read.

Ever see The Prophesy? Mortensen would make an awesome Flagg, and it's perfectly in type.

No I haven't seen that one. Yeah I think he'd be cool as R.F.

[Cambo]

Well, it's all the same guy. King has said he moves between the worlds.

btw...Eyes of the Dragon was the first King book I ever read.

Yeah, I know canonically they're all Randall Flagg, but to me there's a huge difference between Flagg in The Stand and Flagg in DT.

Oh, and what an excellent introduction to King. I can't even remember what my first King book was. Possibly It.

[Horrim Carabal]

Yeah, I know canonically they're all Randall Flagg, but to me there's a huge difference between Flagg in The Stand and Flagg in DT.

You mean personality-wise? Examples?

what an excellent introduction to King. I can't even remember what my first King book was. Possibly It.

It is my favorite King book!

[Cail]

Mortensen plays the Devil in The Prophecy. It's a great performance.

My first king book was The Stand, read at a way too young age.

[Horrim Carabal]

My first king book was The Stand, read at a way too young age.

I read the complete/uncut version a year or so after I read It. I've never to this day read the cut version.

[Cagliostro]

what an excellent introduction to King. I can't even remember what my first King book was. Possibly It.

It is my favorite King book!

It was my first and still my favorite as well.

And I've seen The Prophecy as well, which I saw before LOTR, which made me see that he had some range. He was pretty dynamic in that role.

[Cambo]

Yeah, I know canonically they're all Randall Flagg, but to me there's a huge difference between Flagg in The Stand and Flagg in DT.

You mean personality-wise? Examples?

what an excellent introduction to King. I can't even remember what my first King book was. Possibly It.

It is my favorite King book!

Well, I'm thinking generally about the latter part of The Stand, where despite holding all the cards, he begins to sink into hopelessness, paranoia and insanity. Moreover, you get the definite impression that he is a helpless pawn of some greater evil. He has trouble remembering things that are'nt essential to the present moment, his magic seems most powerful when he has lost all grip on his his sanity, etc. Thematically I think he is deliberately juxtaposed with Mother Abagail, who is quite clearly the willing pawn of an Old Testament style God.

As opposed to the Dark Tower, where he seems much more the master of his mind and his actions. You could say he is just a highly placed servant of the Crimson King, but IIRC he plans to thwart the King at the last instant. You could also say he's still pretty bonkers in DT, but he's definitely a lot more lucid. In book 7 it's revealed he recalls over 1000 years of back story. He could barely remember anything before the superflu in The Stand. Oh, and in The Gunslinger he literally holds all the cards.

Interestingly, his magic in DT seems much closer to The Stand than Eyes of the Dragon. Very much intuitive, shamanic stuff, whereas in Eyes he relies mainly on potions and talismans and the like. Funny, because the canon links him far more explicitly to Eyes than to The Stand. Anyway, in both examples he's again much more lucid and in control. No beserker rage or memory blackouts required.

And yeah, I went through a stage when I was younger of reading It at least once a month. Still one of the greats. The movie wasn't bad exactly, but the final confrontations lost all of their mysticism, which sucked. Where was the turtle?

[Horrim Carabal]

Well, I'm thinking generally about the latter part of The Stand, where despite holding all the cards, he begins to sink into hopelessness, paranoia and insanity. Moreover, you get the definite impression that he is a helpless pawn of some greater evil. He has trouble remembering things that are'nt essential to the present moment, his magic seems most powerful when he has lost all grip on his his sanity, etc. Thematically I think he is deliberately juxtaposed with Mother Abagail, who is quite clearly the willing pawn of an Old Testament style God.

As opposed to the Dark Tower, where he seems much more the master of his mind and his actions. You could say he is just a highly placed servant of the Crimson King, but IIRC he plans to thwart the King at the last instant. You could also say he's still pretty bonkers in DT, but he's definitely a lot more lucid. In book 7 it's revealed he recalls over 1000 years of back story. He could barely remember anything before the superflu in The Stand. Oh, and in The Gunslinger he literally holds all the cards.

Yes I agree with all of that. I assume in different worlds he has different powers and abilities (and even levels of sanity and mental acuity). It's tough traveling through those thinnies, takes a lot out of a guy, even Flagg.

What makes less sense is that the Crimson King changes, from a being maybe on par with It (in Insomnia) to an old man tossing grenades (DT 7). How exactly does that guy on the balcony that gets erased by Patrick command legions of vampires like Barlow? Sure seems like any vamp would kill him in about 2 seconds. How does he command Flagg? What a joke.

And yeah, I went through a stage when I was younger of reading It at least once a month. Still one of the greats. The movie wasn't bad exactly, but the final confrontations lost all of their mysticism, which sucked. Where was the turtle?

Agreed. Maybe a movie version will be made some day, but the best parts of those confrontations are basically unfilmable I would think.

[wayfriend]

"It got delayed, it’s never gone away. We’re working on it, and Stephen is very patient with us.”

Apparently, the Ron Howard/Akiva Goldsman adaptation of DT isn't dead ... it's just complicated.

www.aintitcool.com/node/64215

We can only hope that the process of getting sent back to the drawing boards improves what we end up with.

[wayfriend]

THE DARK TOWER Adaptation is Back On!

Some stuff happening ... blah blah blah.

[Cagliostro]

Awesome!
I wondered about the state of this after hearing It and The Stand are to start filming sometime over the next few months. 2 movies for It and 4 for The Stand. If these all come out at the same time, we are going to get mighty sick of Stephen King.

[Horrim Carabal]

Awesome!
I wondered about the state of this after hearing It and The Stand are to start filming sometime over the next few months. 2 movies for It and 4 for The Stand. If these all come out at the same time, we are going to get mighty sick of Stephen King.

King is in something of a career renaissance right now. His books are selling great, and he's writing them at a pace not seen since before the accident. Joyland and Dr. Sleep were enjoyable, Mr. Mercedes less so...

[wayfriend]

Here's some news that'll [sarcasm]make your day[/sarcasm]:

Jeff Sneider at The Wrap broke the news that McConaughey is Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s top choice to play Roland Deschain in the Nikolaj Arcel-directed DARK TOWER adaptation they’re producing. [link]

That's the best news since they considered changing Susannah to not be black and not be in a wheelchair.

[wayfriend]

As SK would say: And the hits just keep on coming.

Matthew McConaghey has been demoted to The Man In Black. Idris Elba is now the frontrunner for Roland.



I am of the opinion that this is moving back in the right direction. This choice will certainly change the interplay between Roland and Detta. But I can see how the adaptation could survive that.

But ... really ... is there any point in getting attached?

[Cail]

That's kind of where I am Wayfriend. I'd like to see this come to fruition, but until it actually happens I can't get worked up about it.

And it may well turn out to be as good as The Langoliers.

[wayfriend]

It looks like THE DARK TOWER is finally coming together, with Nikolaj Arcel (A ROYAL AFFAIR) directing and Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey as Roland Deshain and the Man in Black, respectively.

Ok, good news.

It appears as if their female lead will be Abbey Lee, the white-haired breeder known as "The Dag" in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Lee will be playing Tirana, who, in the books, is a minor character who pops up in book seven, and is described as "sexy and dangerous," with "fake human skin and cold snake-like eyes."

... wait ... what?

It's a little confusing, considering they're basing the first film strictly on the first book, The Gunslinger, and that she's being described as a female lead despite the character being a supporting one. Surely, they're rejiggering stuff for the big screen, but the wording sure makes it a bit of a head-scratcher.

"Rejiggering"? Rejiggering?!?!

This is one of those I genuinely didn't think would ever come together, but it looks like it's finally happening, albeit with a smaller-named director than folks like J.J. Abrams or Ron Howard. The next move is to higher someone to play Jake Chambers, which they'll have to do fast to get this thing shot, cut, and rendered in time for their release date next January. [link]

It's coming. Not sure if I should crow, cringe, or cry.