Doug’s Comments (group member since Apr 29, 2009)

Doug’s comments from the Dark Tower group.

So we have what passes for an explanation for the delay, and the one word answer is "money."

However Ron Howard also admits that Bardem isn't actually on board yet, but is "very interested."

Original story here.

You know I'm "very interested" in making a Doug Sandwich with Olivia Wilde and Brooklyn Decker, but I don't think I ever will.

Apparently, things are worse than some "mild concerns." Universal executives have told the staff workers to stop preproduction activity, and the start date for production has been scrapped.

Details

There is also mention of Universal dumping Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness over budget concerns, which I was (and remain) extremely pissed off about when I heard the news a while ago. Seems like studios just don't want to make smart, adult oriented films anymore.

I understand it's a risk for a studio to invest a large amount of money in a project that could fail to deliver a return. New Line would have looked like incredible tools of The Lord of the Rings would have tanked, but it didn't and they came off smelling like...well...like a rose.

So, I raise a glass to the businessmen and bean-counters at Universal, and whatever parent corporation owns them. I raise a second glass to the mentally atrophied general movie-going audience, who have allowed the studios to sell drivel to the lowest common denominator for so long that it has become the default position of that industry.

Thanks for coming together in this perfect storm to keep these beloved books safe from exploitation for a little while longer.

Well I suppose it was somewhat inevitable that at some point the studio was going to step back and ask "Wait, this is going to cost how much?"

Three films, two television series, A-list talent...all bound to cost a premuim. Or could this article just be a publicity thing. Announce the threat to the project then judge the response from the internet.

How Many Zeroes?!

I suppose we'll just have to see if the Wheel will bring those accountant back in line to get this thing made.

Well it looks like the deal is being hammered out. Bardem is very likely going to be Roland in the films and television series. According to the article, which can be found here, they are just putting the finishing touches on the deal and Howard is beginning the casting process around Bardem.

At leas they seem to be doing that right. As I've said before, if the four principles don't click...this will be nightmarish. I wonder who Howard has in mind for Eddie, Susannah and Jake. I also wonder how they are going to keep Jake looking young for the no doubt five or six years it's going to take to film all of this crap.

::sigh:: I hope this turns out better than I'm thinking it will.

Well, I would hardly call this news, but it seems that Bardem is interested, though still has yet to say anything official.

locked in psychologically?

Basically Brian Grazer, a producer was quoted as saying Bardem was "locked in psychologically" and they are still pursuing him, but nothing has happened yet.

I kind of hate this ambush type questioning that is going on in the media. An actor, director, producer is out and an event for project A, bet people run up and start asking questions about project B and C. When they know something, they say so. When it's confirmed they announce it. All this nickel and dime stuff just makes the wait longer, and fuel endless speculation. Bugs me.

Also...Bardem is a good actor, correction - a great actor - but he doesn't have Roland's physicality. He's too big. It's a nit pick, but I think it's a valid one.

Okay I'm done. For now. Enjoy the news, such as it is.

Gavin wrote: "Quick question. At work I was given the task of reading four (is there more?) Dark Tower graphic novels and I have no idea where to start.

TREACHERY
THE LONG ROAD HOME
THE GUNSLINGER BORN
FA..."

The chronological order is as follows:

Gunslinger Born - Kind of retells the Mejis flashback (from Wizard & Glass)

Long Road Home - What happened between Mejis and Gilead for Roland's first Tet

Treachery - Outlines the plot and some details of how Roland's father went to the Clearning

Fall of Gilead - Farson's attack on Gilead and the destruction of the Gunslingers

Reading these four is only a spoiler if you have not read Wizard & Glass if I recall correctly. There are more comics in the series. The four books you mentioned are trade paperback collections of the comic arcs (usually around 5 comics each) After Fall of Gilead there is The Gunslinger and the current arc (or just completed but not in trade paperback form yet as far as I know) The Little Sisters of Eluria.

Hope this helps.

New info courtesy of Ain't It Cool News. Nothing shocking, but a game element is mentioned, as well as a possible release date.

Clicky

Books-treasureortrash wrote: "The actor they have picked to be Roland looks perfect to me. Javier Bardem

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000849/

This is so exciting, how can last until 2013 ?!?"

Not to totally let the wind out of your sails, but Bardem has been approached by the production. As far as has been reported, he has only been offered the role. Given the amount of time likely to be involved in the production, it will be a tough decision for him.

So, he's not cast yet, but you may safely cross your fingers.

Dan wrote: "Hugh Jackman would be a better Roland than Javier Bardem."

I've been hesitant to throw in on one side or another about the casting of this monstrosity. Bardem is a good actor. Mortensen is a good actor, and between the two I'd give a slight edge to Mortensen, though I cannot fault the guy for passing on a project that will take another two or three years to complete.

I think both could portray the arc of Roland. I don't think either of them are physically "the guy" but concessions have to be made, and that is as likely a place as you'll get. Leading men just aren't built like Clint Eastwood anymore, and Roland is based almost exactly on Clint circa 1965.

The casting of something like this is just too mind-bogglingly complicated. The four guns in the picture, the gunslingers, need a massive amount of chemistry between the actors to make the whole thing work. Casting a Roland is a place to begin, but (assuming Bardem accepts) he'll have to read with each prospective addition, and as the Tet fills, I think they should all be part of the audition process.

I'm dubious about Jackman in the lead. Even when he's doing serious drama or action, there is a playfulness in his acting. A youthful, vibrant kind of energy, and it would not fit well with the cold, calculating and emotionless Roland.

In my mind, there is no "name" in Hollywood that stands out as a definite choice. (other than Eastwood from forty years ago)

Once the part is cast, I'll be interested in whether Ron Howard speaks about other hopefuls he was looking at.

It looks like Ron Howard is making a push for a lead in the Dark Tower project. I know the guy can act, and now he's got a nice fat Academy nomination, but I don;t think he's right for this part, personally.

Follow the link for details.

We deal in lead, Friend-O

More information on the planned series and some talk about casting.

Cliky

I'm still dubious, but I'm warming to the idea of Viggo as Roland. A little. I reserve the right to remain opposed to the idea even though I like him as an actor.

I still think Frank Darabont and Robin Furth should be doing the scripts. Howard can direct, but Furth knows her Dark Tower and nobody gets King's writing translated to screenplay better than Darabont.

I suppose we'll see. The hype is building and Universal is going to be pressured to greenlight the project soon if they want to make the 2013 deadline.

At the risk of genre mashing, I'll just say I have a bad feeling about this.

Oh man....I just don't know about this at all. This could be very, very bad. Ron Howard scored the rights to the story, and will be developing three films and a television series to tell the whole story.

Links go to breaking news with more detail.

Ka Ka

Oh Discordia!

I've read through the string of posts and seen the smae quibbles and positions that have been bouncing around since the book was released, and i do have some additional food for thought that I can add...something folks in this thread have overlooked, but before I get to that I guess I should share my opinion on the ending(s).

For my part, after Roland stepped into the Tower i did put the book down. Not for very long...just a couple of hours or so (and mostly because I was just tired. I picked up the book as the Tet were beginning thier assault on Agul Siento, and put it down when Roland stepped into the Tower....a long session of reading).

In my time away from the book, I digested all that had happened, and tried to see into the Tower myself. What I imagined wasn't so different that what King presented in the Coda. I saw a kind of judgement of Roland...with the Tower standing in for St. Peter or Hades, weighing Roland's life and deeds against the ends he achieved.

After I was satisfied with that in my head, I read the Coda, and initially I was miffed that Roland hadn't succeeded to the point where the Tower would allow him to rest from his journey...but as I mulled it over in my head, I beleived that it was appropriate and correct for Roland's character. He relentlessly pursued the Tower for his entire long life, and his single-minded determination was the foundation of his character...so it was the foundation of the Tower; after all...the door at the top was "Roland." They need each other, they rely on each other. The Tower stood as Roland's goal, and (and this part gets kinda meta, but so much of the series was that I don't feel bad about doing it myself) should Roland win through and end his journey, there is no reason for the Tower to be there anymore. If one falls so does the other, if one retires, so does the other.

Now I'll bring it around to the additional bit of discussion fodder I mentioned at the top of the post. Everyone is considering the two endings to The Dark Tower...but there are three endings.

Roland is placed back in the Mohaine Desert...at the point where he is sure that he will catch the Man in Black, and thusly sure that he will achieve the Tower, but with the addition of the Horn. (this is the biggest sticking point for me...why did the Tower send him here and not back to Jericho Hill, or Mejis? Why here with the horn as a gift, and not to the Hill with the compassions and empathy he picked up in the previous loop...enough to let him choose to take the horn from 'Bert's corpse? The only answer I can settle on is...that's where the journey started for the readers, so that's where the journey started)

After that King included Browning's poem. This is the third ending. At the close of that poem, Roland sounds the horn and presumably enters the Tower, but it isn't explicit in the poem that he does if memory serves.

People commented that the Coda was added to satisfy people who would not accept the natural ending of Roland stepping into the Tower, but if that is so, hasn't King gotten the last laugh by placing the poem at the end of the series? Leaving Roland outside the Tower, announcing himself but not entering? Including the poem at the end, and looking at that as the actual ending to the series leaves the reader with the same ending King had in mind, but grants the reader the hope that this is when Roland finds his peace. It was a brilliant maneuver in my opinion.

Overall I was satisfied with the series. I'm in the process of re-reading it again, having finally gotten around to picking up the revised Gunslinger. Knowing what is coming, or what fate ultimately awaits the characters has so far not dulled my enjoyment of the books (I'm back in the Wastelands right now). It's only enhanced them.

Eric wrote: "My favorite book DT book is Wizard and Glass. I loved reading about Roland and his first ka-tet, plus the early days of Gilead. Hopefully we'll learn more of Roland as a 'child' in the new DT boo..."

I think the new DT novel will be later than that, taking place between Wizard and Wolves. Everything between Roland, Cuthbert and Alain's return from Mejis, through the fall of Gilead and the climactic battle at Jerich Hill is detailed in the comic book run. (Jericho Hill is actually being released currently. I think they are on issue three this month.)

It's difficult for me to pin down a favorite book from the series, mainly because I tend to look at the entire tale as a single story, with each book as a chapter (including the non-Roland DT novels King has written). That said I'll go ahead and select The Gunslinger as my favorite, with Wizard and Glass and the Wastelands being a pretty close second. Wizard and Glass's massive flashback feels like the closest King has come to the original Gunslinger, and Wastelands was the first time you can see the scope of Mid-World displayed in the forefront of the writing. They also rank for the amount of actual gunslinging the heroes perform.

Wolves seemed derivitive of the classic western "few vs. many" and while that's fine, compared to the rest of the series it seemed un-original. I guess Wolves gets my vote for least favorite because of that fact...and one other which seems like a nit-pick. Sneetches and Doom-bots? Really?

Elvin wrote: "Hey do you think Reah might appear? Like he never actually killed her, so since its during her time more or less, maybe she comes out and we see her die?"


I dunno about seeing the witch in the new book. I thought that Roland had killed her prior to the events of the Gunslinger (meaning sometime after he kills his mother but before the story picks up with Roland in the desert.

Of course, anything can happen in a flashback, and considering what happened to Flagg, it might not be all that exciting.

I am excited (much as I can be about a book that is years away from my hands) about hearing more of the journey that the new Tet was on (ah la The Wastelands). After 'Wolves I missed Roland and the others in Mid-World.

Just posting an FYI,

at a book signing for Under the Dome, he was asked about a new DT book and said that there was one more book he wanted to write, to take place between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla.

The link is of a Q&A he did prior to the signing in Maryland that has the good news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xl6AC...

cool beans