Stephen King’s The Dark Tower movie: news, rumors, and sneak peeks

It’s been a long time coming, but The Dark Tower movie is finally on its way. The road to bringing Stephen King’s acclaimed saga to the big screen has been nearly as arduous as the journey undertaken by protagonist Roland Deschain across the eight novels (and additional prequels and spinoff stories).

Plans for a Dark Tower adaptation date all the way back to 2007, with the project gaining momentum and losing it at various points — and with various studios — before cameras finally began rolling more than nine years on. Currently scheduled to hit theaters February 17, 2017, The Dark Tower has followed a long and winding path to the screen. We’ve compiled all the twists and turns for your voyeuristic pleasure right here, with updates leading all the way up to the film’s debut.

The movie that almost didn’t happen … three times

The adaptation of The Dark Tower has evolved over the course of three major phases of development, spanning just shy of a decade.

Back in 2007, Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmmaker J.J. Abrams was initially attached to direct an ambitious, multi-film franchise based on King’s series after the conclusion of his mega-hit Lost, co-created with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The latter pair purchased the movie rights to the series, intending to have Lindelof pen the screenplay for the first of seven (and possibly eight) films — a saga that would probably even make Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit filmmaker Peter Jackson shudder at its sheer scope.

As time went on, however, Lindelof and Abrams both expressed doubt regarding their ability to adapt a project they were so fond of, with Lindelof telling USA Today in 2009, “You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it.” Their three-year option on the project eventually expired in November 2009, and the rights reverted back to King.

Just a few months after the adaptation rights for The Dark Tower saga became available, the option was snatched up by Universal Pictures, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard attached as director and co-producer with his frequent collaborator, Brian Grazer, as well as Stephen King himself. Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) was also attached as a writer on the project, which was intended to take the form of a movie trilogy and two television miniseries that would span the time between the films.

It wasn’t long before casting rumors began to circulate, with the earliest speculation suggesting that No Country For Old Men actor Javier Bardem (pictured below) and A History of Violence actor Viggo Mortensen were both in the running to play Roland Deschain, and Skyfall actress Naomie Harris potentially playing a supporting role. Bardem was officially announced as the film’s lead in April 2011, but the celebration was short-lived, as Universal balked at the rapidly inflating budget for the project and canceled it altogether in July.

Much like Roland himself, however, Howard rode on with The Dark Tower. He eventually convinced Warner Bros. Pictures to pick up the movie trilogy, with HBO taking on the television series, but less than a year later, Warner Bros. dropped the project — just a month after Russell Crowe reportedly replaced Bardem as the new lead actor.

cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com

Things picked up again in 2015 when Sony Pictures and producer Media Rights Capital announced plans to take on the adaptation, and filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel — director of the Oscar-nominated Danish film A Royal Affair — was announced as the project’s new director in July 2015. With Howard staying on as a producer, Arcel and Oscar-winning screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen were tasked with rewriting Goldsman’s most recent script. The film was assigned a release date of January 13, 2017 (later changed to February 17), with filming to begin in 2016.

Adapting the epic

A sprawling saga that mixes elements of fantasy, horror, and westerns, The Dark Tower chronicles the journey of Roland Deschain, one of the last remaining gunslingers — members of a knight-like order charged with protecting the people of Mid-World — as he pursues the ominous “Man in Black” across the land. Both Roland and The Man in Black are on a quest to reach the enigmatic Dark Tower, a magical building that could hold the secret to saving Mid-World, along with countless other worlds.

Stephen King’s saga unfolded over the course of eight novels, and often intersected with characters and events from his other stories. The Man in Black, for example, also serves as the antagonist in The Stand. The story also involved characters crossing over from different dimensions and timelines at various points, with some pulled from worlds not too far separated from our own to become Roland’s traveling companions.

Early rumors indicated the film’s narrative won’t directly follow the novels, and will likely jump back and forth a bit in the source material to tell Roland’s story. Along with playing The Man in Black in The Dark Tower, Matthew McConaughey has frequently been linked to the character’s counterpart in a potential movie based on The Stand, so there’s the distinct possibility of a shared universe.

Casting the Ka-tet

A few months after The Dark Tower was assigned an official release date, reports began to circulate in November 2015 that True Detective actor Matthew McConaughey was a likely contender to star in the film — either as The Man in Black or Roland Deschain. Along with McConaughey’s name being mentioned for a role, Luther star Idris Elba was also suggested as a potential frontrunner to play Roland.

Elba’s potential attachment to the role ignited a bit of controversy among fans of King’s saga, with some questioning the casting of a non-white actor to play a character many presumed to be light-skinned. Depicted as a white man in the illustrations featured on many of the books, Roland also found himself at odds with an African-American woman in the story due to his race. However, King himself weighed in on the controversy and seemingly dismissed fans’ concerns for the role race plays in the character’s story arc.

To me, the color of the gunslinger doesn’t matter. What I care about is how fast he can draw…and that he takes care of the ka-tet.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 12, 2015

The studio seemed to echo King’s take on the character when it officially announced Elba as Roland a few months later.

It was also left to King to confirm McConaughey as The Man in Black, and the acclaimed author did so in a message on Twitter that prompted a very entertaining back-and-forth conversation between Elba and McConaughey.

It’s official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 1, 2016

.@McConaughey you have one new follower. #DarkTowerMovie https://t.co/5fSKF02C7I

— Idris Elba (@idriselba) March 1, 2016

.@idriselba come and get me, I look forward to it. #DarkTowerMovie https://t.co/4gxqm2GPo3

— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) March 1, 2016

After Elba and McConaughey were confirmed to The Dark Tower, the casting for various members of Roland’s ka-tet — the term used for his traveling companions in the saga — soon followed. Mad Max: Fury Road actress Abbey Lee was cast as Tirana, one of the female leads in the film, and she was followed by Doctor Foster actor Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers, Watchmen actor Jackie Earle Haley as Sayre, The Cabin in the Woods actor Fran Kranz as Pimli, Vikings actress Katheryn Winnick in an unknown role, and Little Men actor Michael Barbieri as Timmy.

More supporting cast members were later added, including Avengers: Age of Ultron actress Claudia Kim as Arra Champignon.

After almost a decade of stops and starts, cameras officially began rolling on The Dark Tower on April 12, 2016. The first images from the South Africa set of the film emerged a month later, offering an early peek at Elba in costume as Roland Deschain.

Seeing is believing

The first, semi-official piece of promotion for The Dark Tower was released by Stephen King, who posted a cryptic photo on Twitter featuring “The Horn of Eld” on May 19, 2016. Appearing in the background against the message “Last Time Around,” the Horn is an heirloom of Roland Deschain’s family that plays a key role in King’s saga.

The Dark Tower is close, now. The Crimson King awaits. Soon Roland will raise the Horn of Eld. And blow. http://pic.twitter.com/rqGSKM3dWL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 19, 2016

Twitter continued to be the medium of choice for promoting the film in its early stages, with Idris Elba offering up an in-character oath on June 19, 2016. “I am Roland, son of Steven, son of Henry, true descendant of Arthur. And I have not forgotten,” wrote Elba, alluding to the way characters in the saga are encouraged to never “forget the face” of their fathers in order to live up to their potential.

I am Roland, son of Steven, son of Henry, true descendant of Arthur. And I have not forgotten. #TheDarkTowerMovie http://pic.twitter.com/GvowjNapPC

— Idris Elba (@idriselba) June 19, 2016

There’s no official word on when the first trailer for The Dark Tower will premiere at this point, but we’ll be watching for that and all other news and rumors about this long-awaited franchise, so stay tuned!

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/28IZ79u
Rick Marshall