JJ Abrams to Helm Dark Tower Adaptation???

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Who is Lost in The Dark Tower?
IGN has the exclusive scoop here!
by Stax


February 13, 2007 - IGN has exclusively learned that J.J. Abrams is poised to direct The Dark Tower, based on the Stephen King literary series. Abrams' production company Bad Robot had "no comment" on the matter.

Sources advised us that an official announcement is forthcoming. We have been unable to determine whether Dark Tower will be a film project or a TV miniseries, although the latter is a more likely prospect given the complex nature of King's seven-book series. Given Abrams' success on the small screen -- and King's well known love for the Abrams-produced TV series Lost -- the tube seems a better fit for The Dark Tower. That said, IGN now has reason to believe the project will be for the big-screen.

Sources also added that Abrams is indeed only producing Star Trek XI. It was recently reported that Abrams would not direct Trek XI, as many had assumed, but would instead turn his attention to a secret Paramount project titled Cloverfield. Might Cloverfield be a codename for The Dark Tower? Or a completely separate project?

(Interestingly enough, Entertainment Weekly did an interview last year with King, Abrams and his Lost producing partner Damon Lindelof, who reportedly brought a rare first edition of The Gunslinger to the meeting.)

Often described as King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower, as Wikipedia reminds us, "tells the tale of lead character Roland Deschain's quest for the 'Dark Tower.' The Dark Tower is often described in the novels as a real structure, and also as a metaphor. Part of Roland's fictional quest lies in discovering the true nature of the Tower. The series incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western elements."

"In the story, Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, as well as bearing magical powers and the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to either be, or be located at, the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have 'moved on,' and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams — mighty nations are being torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish from the face of the earth without a trace, time does not flow in an orderly fashion; even the sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals, and even his age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries."

This news about J.J. Abrams comes on the heels of Marvel's recent launch of the limited comic book series The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born.



All I can say is, if they're ever going to make a Dark Tower adaptation, be it motion picture or TV miniseries, JJ Abrams is possible the best call.

And if this all turns out to be true I just might :combust::combust::combust:
 
YES! YES! YES! :hyper:

Dear God let this be true, and let it be on HBO so it doesn't get watered down. I think a series really would be the best bit, though if they did try to put it on the big screen, it would have to be a trilogy at the very least. And JJ Abrams seems like an obvious choice to me, considering how much of what goes on on Lost is nearly pulled directly out of the Dark Tower books.

Anyone wanna talk casting? :love:
 
DreamOutLoud13 said:
YES! YES! YES! :hyper:

Dear God let this be true, and let it be on HBO so it doesn't get watered down. I think a series really would be the best bit, though if they did try to put it on the big screen, it would have to be a trilogy at the very least. And JJ Abrams seems like an obvious choice to me, considering how much of what goes on on Lost is nearly pulled directly out of the Dark Tower books.

Anyone wanna talk casting? :love:

I do! I've been thinking about casting a possible adaptation for ages, though I've never been able to really pin down a solid group of actors. Honestly I think the best bet would be to cast an ensemble of completely new faces for the roles, much like the cast of LOST.

Maybe one or two characters could be big names, just for the cool- and marketing-factors.

But I think maybe Hugo Weaving for an older Roland, and someone like Guy Pierce for Walter/Marten/Randall Flagg.

I have much more vivid ideas for the cast of The Talisman miniseries though. :drool:
 
Hugo Weaving's a good choice, but my personal choice was Billy Bob Thorton. And I think David Arquette would make an excellent Eddie.


The Talisman :drool: I'm currently halfway through reading it for the first time :hyper:
 
DreamOutLoud13 said:
Hugo Weaving's a good choice, but my personal choice was Billy Bob Thorton. And I think David Arquette would make an excellent Eddie.


The Talisman :drool: I'm currently halfway through reading it for the first time :hyper:

Never thought about Billy Bob. Good choice as well. Not so sure about David Arquette. I just don't like him as an actor. I also can't imagine him doing such a serious role (despite Eddie being the jokester). And I just had a GREAT idea. Everyone always talks about how Roland is loosely based on Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name, and how if there was ever a DREAM movie or whatever made of the Dark Tower, that Eastwood would be PERFECT for the role. Well, I agree with that, but since he's far too old for the role now, I have an awesome idea. Why not cast Eastwood in the role of Steven Dechain, Roland's father? I mean, yes, he's still too old for the character, but Steven would only appear very briefly in the movie/series, and with a little make-up and effects, it could easily work. And it would be awesome to see Roland's real-life inspiration make a cameo in the series somehow, no?

Oh, and you're going to absolutely LOVE the Talisman. That novel just keeps getting better and better the whole way through. And once you've finished that, I strongly reccomend you pick up Black House, the sequel. It's a very different kind of story, but it's a worthy sequel through and through. And the older Jack Sawyer that appears in Black House is one of the all time favorite King characters. :drool:
 
The Talisman is also being made into a miniseries by Steven Spielberg.

I bet J.J. will be on this after Star Trek XI is all greenlit and ready to begin production. He'd only be writer/producer.
 
That's right LMP, and I can't wait for the Talisman either. I also heard a rumor about Black House being made into a motion picture, which would be very cool after The Talisman is done.

and Frank Darabont is directing The Myst. That's going to be amazing as well.
 
Stephen King books being made into non-shitty?

What?

Has that happened since The Shining?
 
Yeah, it looks like King novels are finally getting the silver-screen treatment they deserve. Darabont's two masterpieces "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile" proved beyond a reasonable doubt that good, even excellent adaptations are possible. The recent Nightmares and Dreamscapes miniseries was also very good, and I only saw a part of it, but the Desperation miniseries seemed like a winner. I should rent that and see the whole thing.

So, given Darabont's track record, I'm sure The Myst is going to rock. Steven Spielberg is producing The Talisman miniseries, and Spielberg has declared The Talisman as one of his favorite novels, so that one's destined for at least minor greatness. And if these JJ Abrams rumors turn out to be true, and The Dark Tower gets the full series treatment (maybe something like 3 seasons would cover it), it could be King's finest moment as far as motion picture adaptations go.

I actually just started rereading The Dark Tower novels this afternoon in celebration of this news. :happy:
 
I forgot Shawshank and Green Mile were King-related :up:

I was thinking along the lines of Children of the Corn, Graveyard Shift, Silver Bullet, Pet Sematary....

Nightmares... was great, as was Kingdom Hospital :up:
 
Oh yes, I forgot about Kingdom Hospital, that was very good, I didn't watch the entire thing though unfortunately.

But The Talisman has me drooling profusely. :drool:
 
I read 2009 for the Talisman.

That could shape up to be an amazing year for one reason, and one reason alone, Avatar.

Plus, I'm graduating high school that year.
 
I thought I read Summer '08 for the Talisman. Maybe I was mistaken.

And Oh my God, don't get me started on Avatar. I don't want to soil my pants right now. :hyper:
 
This is gonna be cool. They'd better make it long enough, if they gut it I'm not going to be happy. But think how long it would have to be to be complete?

Casting...Roland will be tough. I honestly can't think of anyone appropriate. I guess a younger Clint Eastwood would have worked, but obviously that ain't happening. Eddie, hmm, Matt Damon? I can't think of a good Jake either. What about Susannah? Maybe Jada Pinkett or Sanaa Lathan.
 
Well...that definitely needs to happen :)

I could see Vivica Fox, she's a bit old for the part but doesn't look it, and she has some attitude so she could handle the 'Detta Walker parts. Gabrielle Union would work too actually.
 
This is fairly exciting news. HBO would be perfect for it.

Speaking of King movies and such, anyone in here see The Stand? Was a mini-series on ABC. I have it on DVD, actually.
 
^ I thought the Stand was excellent. Pretty well-cast & well-done. Most of the "made for TV" King movies have been better than the theatrical releases, other than the non-horror ones (Stand By Me, Shawshank, Green Mile).
 
I enjoyed it as well. Watching it on DVD, years after seeing it for the first time, it was not quite as great as I remembered it, but it was still very good, or so I thought.
 
No spoken words said:
This is fairly exciting news. HBO would be perfect for it.

Speaking of King movies and such, anyone in here see The Stand? Was a mini-series on ABC. I have it on DVD, actually.

I have it DVR'd right now, definitely going to start watching it tomorrow.

How about the Steven Weber / Rebecca DeMornay version of The Shining? I really liked that one, but it cannot top the Kubrick / Nicholson one.
 
Yeah, although the TV adaptation of The Shining was FAR more loyal to the book, as a stand-alone work, it wasn't nearly as good as Kubrick's severely flawed, yet classic film.
 
Definitely.

The shot of Frozen Jack at the end absolutely kills me.

And the topiary maze replaced the Lawn Creatures because of special effects issues. I liked the maze more to be honest.

"Darling. Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in. Ha, ha."
 
the Lawn Creatures in the miniseries weren't that great. In the novel though, holy shit. Scariest thing I've ever read/seen.
 
I need to read some of his books, should I start with the Dark Tower series?

Or go with the classics like It, The Shining, Dreamcatcher, etc...?
 
You can't go wrong with The Dark Tower series. As a whole (I consider all 7 volumes one story) it's the single greatest novel I've ever read. It really trumps the Lord of the Rings in terms of scope, character and emotion, and all around coolness.

I wouldn't recommend Dreamcatcher right off the bat though. Not one of his strongest novels. The Shining was the first King book I ever read though. Also the scariest. Read that. Then watch Kubrick's film again. You will feel cheated. :wink:
 
haha, thanks :up:

My friend told me really good things about Dreamcatcher, but if it's shitty like the movie I will disappointed.

Cheers to The Shining and Dark Tower.
 
I need to read King's and Philip K. Dick's, work.

Wow, did not know The Running Man was a King novel.

I'll add that and Misery to the list.
 
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