Review The Dark Tower (2017)

[Doctor Omega]

The Dark Tower is an upcoming 2017 American science fantasy Western horror film directed and co-written by Nikolaj Arcel, based on the series of novels of the same name by Stephen King. The film is a quasi-sequel to the The Dark Tower book series, following the ending of The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower.

The film has been stated to be not a typical adaptation, but more of a new take on the series. Additionally, King has tweeted a photo of the Horn of Eld with the caption "Last Time Around", which is related to a scene from the end of the final book and Arcel said that fans will know the movie is a sequel to the book series.

The film is set to be released on July 28, 2017

 

[Doctor Omega]

New full trailer.............

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

Additionally, King has tweeted a photo of the Horn of Eld with the caption "Last Time Around", which is related to a scene from the end of the final book and Arcel said that fans will know the movie is a sequel to the book series.

I have to say that I'm hugely excited to see this for a variety of reasons: 1) I love Idris Elba! The man is phenomenal in everything he does and to see him as the gunslinger revs up my heart rate to no end. 2) I'm thrilled with the choice of MM as "The Big Bad"! I think the two will work wonders together. 3) King hasn't really been happy with much of what Hollywood has done with his work so if he's tweeting in any positive way at all then I'm pretty certain we're in for a great ride. The preview visuals look great and it appears that this kid is also going to end up as having been a perfect choice as well.

This one looks like it will really crank up the heat this summer!

And yup, The DBs for the whole damn thing!

 

[Doctor Omega]

There is a rather special cameo guest appearance in the movie.....

Spoiler

Cujo Makes A Cameo In “The Dark Tower”





If James Gunn can get away with plenty of easter eggs to other Marvel cosmic properties in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it makes sense that the upcoming “The Dark Tower” film will include references to other works by famed author Stephen King.

A few weeks back the trailer for the film surfaced and eagle-eyed fans spotted some references to other King books including a framed photo of the Overlook Hotel from “The Shining,” and a dilapidated carnival attraction with the name ‘Pennywise’ from “IT”.

So what other King books might be mentioned? King himself recently spoke about it and confirmed that a certain rabid dog might make an appearance: “If viewers who are familiar with my work look very closely, they might see Cujo. Keep an eye out for Cujo in New York City.”

“Cujo” is considered one of King’s strongest works, and was previously adapted into a so-so movie in 1983. “The Dark Tower” opens in August, just a few weeks ahead of a new adaptation of King’s “IT”.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

As I believe I said earlier, SK hasn't been happy with most of what Hollywood has done with his books. Oddly enough, he hated Kubric's version of The Shining the very most and made a comment afterwards saying he'd never hand his novels over to them again... I would assume that meant without some kind of creative control (which many author's learned much about from JK Rowling's adaptations of the HP series by WB). He is clearly excited about TDT which makes me even more thrilled at what's in store for us when it finally hits the big screen!

My understanding (probably via you oh great and mighty OZ of the silver screen), is that a remake of IT is also in the works and given that "it" was the only book (I brought) that a bunch of us had on a camping trip, I spent four days reading the hard copy cover-to-cover, out loud "for the crowd" as it were. So I have a special place in my heart for that particular work of his.

So here's for SK, TDT and hopefully IT...
I think it goes without saying that they're "Dancing" for you too Doc!

 

[Doctor Omega]

“The Dark Tower” Gets Three TV Spots





Sony Pictures has unleashed the first three TV spots for the film adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy epic “The Dark Tower” which opens in cinemas August 4th.

Idris Elba plays Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is travelling south-east across a post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower.

Located in the fey region of End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus point of the time-space continuum. It is the heart of all worlds, but it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it. Matthew McConaughey also stars.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Director Re-Affirms “Dark Tower” Is A Sequel





“The Dark Tower” director Nikolaj Arcel recently spoke with IGN and re-affirmed that the upcoming film is a sequel to the Stephen King book series as opposed to a direct adaptation:

“It is, in fact, a continuation. It is a canon continuation. That’s exactly what we intended and what Stephen King has signed off on.”

Arcel also says King is happy with the way that the movie turned out despite it being different from his original novel:

“At one point he said, ‘I have some notes for script.’ And he sent us a hard copy of the script, with hand-written notes. He was very polite and very respectful. It was always like, ‘Maybe Roland doesn’t talk so much here’… he was just like the groundskeeper of the characters.

After he saw the film for the first time, (King wrote to me), ‘This is not exactly my novel, but this is very much in the spirit and the tone. And I’m very happy.'”

Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey lead the cast of the fantasy adventure thriller which opens worldwide on August 17th.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

Idris Elba To Return For “Dark Tower” Series?





In the many years of development of “The Dark Tower,” the plan was for the screen adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy novel series to consist of a trilogy of films and two seasons of event television.

Cut to now and, at present, it all depends upon the success of “The Dark Tower” film opening in a few weeks and whether there’s an audience for the saga or not.

If the TV spin-off does go forward though, producer Akiva Goldsman says he’s quite sure that the film’s star Idris Elba will be involved in some capacity. In fact, he tells Deadline that work on the series has already begun:

“The first episode of a show has been written, and we hope to retain Ron [Howard]’s original idea to mix platforms, something that seemed revolutionary ten years ago but now is something that others have done. Idris for sure is part of this, and if the movie is Roland Deschain the gunslinger, the show is his origin story, based on the fourth novel in the series, Wizard and Glass.”

Goldsman along with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer have all been exploring the idea of a spin-off series for years. Elba certainly is no stranger to TV with his most iconic roles to date on small screen efforts like “Luther” and “The Wire”.

“The Dark Tower” opens in cinemas on August 4th.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“The Dark Tower” Runs For Just 95 Minutes





The British Board of Film Classification has confirmed that next month’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s eight-volume fantasy novel series “The Dark Tower” clocks in at just 95 minutes.

Nikolaj Arcel helms the project which is expected to serve more as a sequel to the book series, and at that pace will likely keep itself confined to mainly action as opposed to a deep dive into the dense mythology and lore of the books.

Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor and Katheryn Winnick co-star in the film which opens August 4th.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Dark Tower” Director Explains Short Runtime






One announcement that raised eyebrows the other day was that the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” would clock in at just 95 minutes.

There’s no way to adapt an eight book fantasy saga into anything even remotely approaching that runtime. Even if it is a ‘sequel’ to the books, as has been stated before, it seems an incredibly short one.

Director Nikolaj Arcel explains to Slashfilm that there’s a good reason for this – they’ve kept the narrative tight with the plan for future films to build out the world we see.

“The good news here…the reason why many fans are worried about the run time is that they think we are trying to do everything in this film. Which we are not. This is ideally the first film. This is an introduction to the world and the characters. It’s not meant to be all the novels and we’re just trying to cram everything in there.

So that’s one thing. And the script was really lean and tight. When I got on board, the script was very short, very lean. That’s one of the things that attracted me to it. I said ‘This is smart.’ You start with a lean, mean story and you don’t try to cram everything in there. You just build the basic ideas. And if people enjoy it and if they like this world and these characters, we can start expanding.”

Of course that all depends on if audiences warm to the Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey-led film when it opens in cinemas on August 4th.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Impressive “Dark Tower” ‘KINGdom’ Clip





Sony Pictures is going one step further to promote their “The Dark Tower” film adaptation. The other day came a featurette about the film’s references to other Stephen King works, but today’s clip goes further.

Titled ‘Connected KINGdom’, the single shot CG animated video takes us through the key environments from “The Shining,” “IT,” “Carrie,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Christine” before tying it all back to the Dark Tower. It’s impressively conceived if somewhat cheaply rendered.

The story follows Idris Elba’s Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger, who has been locked in an eternal battle with the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) and is determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower which holds the universe together.

The film opens everywhere on August 4th.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Dark Tower” Featurette Teases Easter Eggs





A new clip and two posters for Nikolaj Arcel’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy saga “The Dark Tower” have just arrived.

The clip teases the numerous references to the author’s other work that appear in the film including Christine, Misery, The Shining, Cujo, It and more.

In the film, the last Gunslinger Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower which holds the universe together.

Good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black. Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, and Jackie Earle Haley also star.

“The Dark Tower” opens in cinemas on August 4th 2017.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[duzit]

This looks very intriguing, might have to see it on a big screen & hope for the TV series to be decent...

 

[Doctor Omega]

Alleged “Dark Tower” Production Issues Revealed





Sony’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy series “The Dark Tower” opens on Friday and tracking figures are currently suggesting an opening in the mid-$20 million range – not too shabby.

The project has famously had a troubled path to the big screen, and the final form it has seemingly taken (a canonical sequel to the whole saga) has some fans raising obvious concerns about the direction they’ve chosen to go with the material.

Variety has done a feature piece on the project, and it’s not kind. The report claims the film’s creative process, especially in its post-production phase, has been “plagued with problems and clashing visions”.

The trade indicates director Nikolaj Arcel delivered an early cut of the picture that ‘alarmed’ Media Rights Capital boss Modi Wiczyk and Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman. Three test screenings conducted last October, before final effects work was done, reportedly tested poorly with audiences being unable to understand the mythology.

Sony and MRC then spent $6 million on reshoots to fill in more backstory about Elba’s character’s hatred for McConaughey’s Man in Black, along with scenes helping audiences better familiarize themselves with Mid-World.

Wiczyk and Rothman apparently considered bringing in a more experienced filmmaker to recut it. Both men have denied this, though another source says Rothman spent hours in the editing bay offering his input even as they opted not to proceed with another hire due to the expense.

The film’s producers Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman then helped wrangle the film into shape, but Arcel insists he wasn’t sidelined and says:

“On a film with two studios and powerful producers, obviously there is much passionate creative debate on how to work certain ideas or beats. But I felt supported throughout, and they all looked to me for answers. If someone had jumped into my editing room and taken over — I would have left instantly.”

Wiczyk is not happy with the criticisms, saying the film was shot on time and on budget, and his company “would never marginalize or remove a director or dare to edit a film”. MRC does have power over the marketing campaign and the ability to ‘kill’ anything they didn’t like which allegedly led to a few issues.

We’ll all find out ourselves if these issues had an impact when the film opens on Friday.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Dark Tower” Director Talks TV Series Plans






Ahead of the film’s release this Friday, “The Dark Tower” director Nikolaj Arcel has spoken some more about the planned TV series based on the Stephen King fantasy saga.

As previously announced, the film opening on Friday will be the first in a potential trilogy should it meet its financial expectations.

At the same time, two seasons of television have been mapped out that will deal with the books (specifically the fourth one “Wizard and Glass”) more directly – unlike the film which serves as a canonical sequel to the whole saga.

Speaking with Indiewire, Arcel revealed his involvement with the series and where it currently stands:

“It’s being written. I was part of writing the pilot, like the first season ideas and the pilot and the second episode. It’s gonna be awesome. What was exciting about that, whereas with the film, we were really trying to create an introduction and make a standalone film that could sort of live in itself, but what was also exciting, working on the TV show at the same time, is that is totally canon.

We’re going back in the past. It’s very, very closely adhering to the ‘Wizard and Glass’ novel and parts of ‘The Gunslinger’ novel. That was exciting to be even more like, ‘Okay, now we’re going to be able to even lift lines directly, or like [write] characters exactly as they are.’ Which, as a fan, was exciting in a different way.”

Tom Taylor, who plays young Jake Chambers in the film, is expected to appear in the series – but Elba and McConaughey’s involvement is unclear.


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