Art by Eredel "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." - Stephen King, The Dark Tower Book One: The Gunslinger, 1982 If you haven't read Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower, you need to put down what you're doing, set aside a week or two, and read it. It's that good. It doesn't even matter whether you're a Stephen King fan or not, this superbly written tale transcends worlds and time, seamlessly blending sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and western genres, and tells a moving tale of love and friendship, terrible loss, and the ultimate quest. The story spans 8 books (and a short story), with the first installment, The Gunslinger, published in 1982. Book Two, The Drawing of the Three was released in 1987. Book Three, The Wastelands in 1991, with the fourth, Wizard and Glass following in 1997. In 2003 we received Book Five, Wolves of the Calla, and in 2004 we were blessed with 2 offerings, Books Six and Seven, Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, respectively. In 2012 we saw the release of The Wind Through the Keyhole. {The story, it seems, was not done with Mr. King - there were still tales to tell.} TWTTK is the eighth book to be released, but it falls somewhere in between WAG (#4) and WOTC (#5), kind of like a 4.5, as it tells tales of a younger Roland Deschain. I will also mention The Little Sisters of Eluria, which is a short story found in Everything's Eventual. It is kind of a 0.5, although I recommend that TLSOE (#0.5) and TWTTK (4.5) are read after you have completed the 'first' seven books, as they are really just side stories, a little extra gravy on your poutine. There are also the comics, or graphic novels, which tell the tales of Roland's first Ka-Tet. Any actual synopsis of the story will never do it justice, there are just too many subtle nuances intertwined with backstories, love stories, courage, friendship, battle stories, and characters that are so vibrant and rich you believe they actually exist. I will tell you just the basic story, sort of a Cole's Notes of a Cole's Notes. Stripped down to it's bare bones, Stephen King tells a story about a gunslinger on an epic quest through Mid-World. According to the master himself, it's Lord of the Rings meets King Arthur meets Clint Eastwood. I have read this series in full about six or seven times now. All this talk about the movie is making me want to start it again, it's that good. Every time I read it I feel new feelings about different situations, like reading the books with a fresh pair of eyes. Ever since we got a little tease in The Mist, a 2007 movie where the protagonist, David, who paints movie posters for a living is seen painting a Dark Tower poster, myself and countless other DT fans have been holding our breath waiting for the announcement that Roland and his Ka-Tet will make it to the big screen. When the announcement finally arrived, I was shattered. Ron Howard had signed on to direct. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Lady in the Lake, The Missing, and Apollo 13, among others not adapted for the big screen from novels. However, Mr. Howard takes too many liberties and butchers other people's work. DaVinci Code, anyone? How the authors allow it, I will never understand. I get that they think, "ooh, what would happen if Mr. X went with the blue shirt rather than the yellow", but we bibliophiles love the book for what it is. Streamlining for time constraints is one thing, but completely changing the story flow, characters, and/or ending just because is quite another. From IMDb.com Since then, I have heard that he will co-direct and then that he had to remove himself from the project (YAY!) because he couldn't dedicate enough time to the project to do it justice. Now it seems that he is still tied to the project, just as a producer. I don't care why he's gone, I'm just happy he is. The new director is a guy named Nikolaj Arcel. Never heard of him? Yeah, me either. He has directed five whole movies since 2001, and one of those is a short. I haven't seen nor heard of even one of the movies he is credited with directing. And this is the guy who will be taking on the epic genius of Stephen King's Dark Tower, a series which is supposed to be turned into three movies with the possibility of a "when Roland was young" set on Netflix? I'm not sure how I feel about that. From IMDb.com And now I will tackle the controversy that is causing some stir in the DT community. Casting. I will discuss Idris Elba, who is causing most of the stir, but I have other concerns first. Take a look at the above list of actors who have been cast. I am extremely concerned that I don't see Susannah and Dean on this list yet. Are we doing Movie One only with Jake? Yes, Susannah and Dean don't enter the story until the second book, but the first book is actually the shortest of all (it started it's life as a short story sold to a magazine initially), and most of the roles I see on the list above don't show up in it. While we're on the topic of roles that don't show up until later in the series, let's tackle the character of "Tirana". I actually had to google this, because I have read the series in it's entirety numerous times, and I'll be honest with you, I draw a blank with this one. Apparently I'm not alone. "Tirana is definitely not the female lead in the novels. In fact, she’s so obscure that even hardcore fans don’t seem quite sure who she is — I’ve seen some readers swear up and down that no one named Tirana exists in the books." -slashfilm.com So she's the 'lead' female character in the movie, and no one remembers her. Apparently she shows up in Book Seven. As far as I remember, Susannah Dean/Detta Walker gets the title of Lead. I'm also relatively sure that anyone who has read DT would agree. Oh, and by the way, if Tirana is supposed to be kind of Susannah, but different, congrats Hollywood, you just cast yet another white woman in a clearly black role. Just sayin'. Art by RavenMedia As for the other roles already cast, Pimli & Sayre are from much later in the books, Susan is from a lifetime away (Roland's first love), I'm confused about Arra, another minor character I had to google to remember (and seems to me almost a character within a story within a story), who really doesn't seem that important. Rounding out the questions is which character will Katheryn Winnick play? Judging from the fact that we have Jake, his best friend, and his shrink cast, many are speculating she will play his mother, who is absentee at best in the Jake story, and totally unnecessary in a film adaptation. The first movie seems way too much Jake and the battle of Algul Siento, with a little Mejis and some Low Men thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure that picking these particular elements to introduce the story are a good choice. I guess the time has come to speak about the whole controversy surrounding Idris Elba as the gunslinger himself, Roland Deschain. Please do not take my next comments as racist. I like to think that I am not. Roland is not a black man. Do you know how I and anyone in the DT fanverse know this? Above all else, it is because Detta (split personality within Odetta/Detta/Susannah character) likes to call him a "honky mahfah" more often than not. She is, as I mentioned before, a very important character in the DT series. When we first meet her, she is a horribly racist, emotionally scarred, scary as hell, black woman. She is an amazing character and one of the strongest female black characters I have ever encountered, whether on screen or on the page. Since it looks like they're removing her past (modern-day New York, she's from 1964 New York), are they also removing a crucial part of her storyline? What she went through because of who she is matters, and it made her the powerhouse she is as Susannah. Maybe they'll just make her white? Hey, we can still have the racism thing then, right? As I mentioned previously, there is talk that white actress Abbey Lee is playing the 'lead female' character, although hers has a different name. But I digress. Mr. Elba is an incredibly talented actor. Avengers, Thor, Pacific Rim, and Prometheus, just a few of the movies that jump to mind where he is memorable. And I'll be completely honest with you, I've seen shots from the set and some concept art, and he looks bad-ass as the gunslinger. If you haven't read the books and aren't fanatic about them, he is a fantastic choice. The colour of an actor on page vs on screen actually doesn't really bother me (Morgan Freeman playing a middle-aged Irishman in The Shawshank Redemption quickly comes to mind), if race plays no part in the story. If you cut out the whole Odetta part, I really wouldn't take issue with this casting choice, I would totally embrace it. Thing is (I know I keep going back to this, but it matters), Roland, Dean, and Odetta/Detta must cross this bridge to get to where they're going. There's no real way around it. Unless you are telling a different story. And maybe that is exactly what is happening here. I know, this is such a long post! Can you tell it means so much to me? Honestly, even after writing all of this, I still can't even touch upon how much of an impact these books have had on me. I promise it's almost over, and for those of you who made it this far... thanks for sticking with me. Two things remain to discuss. First I want to talk about Mathew McConaughey as The Man in Black. I will take a thousand black Rolands over this choice. He is not exactly stellar acting material. Yes, yes, we were all (shockingly) really impressed by him in True Detective. But one good role does not automatically make you ready or able to play all roles they way they need to be played. Randall Flagg is no surfer dude and his idea of a good time is not the same as ours. Click his name and check out Matthew's filmography. Prolific, but not exactly the stuff Oscars are made of. On top of my already negative feel towards Mr. McConaughey, I read somewhere that he was going to take a crazy, anything goes type of approach to the role. I immediately pictured him trying to channel Ledger's Joker from beneath the hood. I think I even cried a little as a small part of me died inside. I just feel like each casting announcement they make is one mistake after another, just compounding the issues. I will leave you with my personal picks on who should play the main characters. I'm not getting into Sayre or Tirana or Timmy, because they just don't matter at this point in the game. Most of my picks have been my picks for a really long time, some had to change because those I envisioned had the audacity to get old while I held my breath for this movie. Roland Deschain A.K.A. The Gunslinger
Honorable mention goes to Hugh Jackman. Randall Flagg A.K.A. The Man in Black It is not easy to find a great 'picture' of him, and for good reason, he is every nightmare you're ever had all rolled into one, especially the ones that started out as wonderful dreams.
Jake Chambers
I'm okay with the casting of Tom Taylor as Jake (shocking, I know), he's obviously very close to who I originally envisioned playing this role. I would like to point out that Jaden was really enjoyable to watch in After Earth, so he's my actual pick for this role. Eddie Dean Who? Those not in the DT fandom probably haven't heard this name yet. Either he hasn't been cast, or he's not in this movie. Doesn't matter, he is a pivotal part of Roland's Ka-Tet.
Honorable mention goes to the one and only Keanu Reeves. Susannah Dean A.K.A Odetta/Detta Walker Another character so pivotal to the story who has neither been cast nor mentioned by the people involved in the DT movie. She is absolutely the one and only female lead in this series!
Danai's Michonne character on The Walking Dead has evolved in a way very similar to Susannah's journey - harsh & alone to caring & mother-figure The Director A.K.A. the Guy in Charge Okay, so he's not a character - but he (or she) is so important because he has to be making the correct decisions right from the start. Who's that guy with all the awards? Why, Peter Jackson, my friends! He has always been and always will be my absolute number one and only choice for directing a movie of this scope and magnitude. Period. Whew! That was a long one. I think this is my magnum opus of blog posts - it took me about three days to get this all together.
How about you? Any thoughts on casting? Are you going to see the movie(s), or even better, if you haven't read the books, has my zeal inspired you to do so?
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