Dark Tower movie/TV adaption (thrilled or worried)

[OldAccount]

http://tv.ign.com/articles/111/1119037p1.html

I'm a huge fan of the novels and graphic novels so learning that the series is not only getting a film franchise but a TV series as well sent me into all kinds of nerd-gasms. However, I'm wondering how well some of the content would go over with mainstream audiences. Worse yet what if Ron Howard decides to dumb it down for those audiences? Seems like a possibility since faithful adaptions of great comics haven't exactly pulled in the cash as of late (Watchmen, Kickass, Scott Pilgrim vs. the world) as amazing as the movies were.

what do you think? Are we in for Stephen King's masterpiece in all it's surreal glory or a watered down piece of crap designed to appeal to a mass market?

 

[DefunctTheory]

Horrified. The books are too complex for TV, and too long for movies.

Come on, King, you have enough money. Let this one go.

EDIT: The graphic novels were bad. In the first one alone I picked out three events that didn't line up with the books continuity.

 

[scnj]

It's being adapted by the same people who do the Dan Brown movie adaptations. What do you think?

 

[Cynical skeptic]

Well, at least it'll have a better "ending" than the books.

 

[diego_2112]

The Watchmen. V for Vendetta. From Hell. LxG.<----Learn from these. All of them are KILLER graphic novels. All of them are SHIT movies.

I'm thinking you're in for "a watered down piece of crap designed to appeal to a mass market..."

 

[scnj]

Horrified. The books are too complex for TV, and too long for movies.

Come on, King, you have enough money. Let this one go.

King doesn't have the rights any more. He'll get paid royalties, but the rights belong to the people doing the adaptation.

Well, at least it'll have a better "ending" than the books.

No way, that ending was perfect as it was. Having read and thought about it, it lined up well thematically and I wouldn't have changed a bit of it.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Well, at least it'll have a better "ending" than the books.

The books ending, while a kick in the scrotum, was good, and even made sense.

Spoiler: Real Spoiler

The concept that Roland's suffering and torment kept the Towers standing was something I had been suspecting for the last three books. I was both glad I was right, and horrified by the concept at the same time.

EDIT:

Horrified. The books are too complex for TV, and too long for movies.

Come on, King, you have enough money. Let this one go.

King doesn't have the rights any more. He'll get paid royalties, but the rights belong to the people doing the adaptation.

Well, at least it'll have a better "ending" than the books.

No way, that ending was perfect as it was. Having read and thought about it, it lined up well thematically and I wouldn't have changed a bit of it.

Well, he had to have had the rights at SOME time. I was just to late to beg it seems.

And yes, thats exactly what I meant about the ending.

 

[scnj]

The Watchmen. V for Vendetta. From Hell. LxG.<----Learn from these. All of them are KILLER graphic novels. All of them are SHIT movies.

I'm thinking you're in for "a watered down piece of crap designed to appeal to a mass market..."

Watchmen was a good movie that was respectful to the source material. V For Vendetta changed a lot, but if they'd kept everything the same, it wouldn't have worked as a movie. The adaptation we got was a fine movie, if thematically different from the source material.

 

[scnj]

Well, he had to have had the rights at SOME time. I was just to late to beg it seems.

And yes, thats exactly what I meant about the ending.

He first sld the rights to JJ Abrams and the Lost crew for $19 and they were going to adapt it into a seven season tv show. After attempting to write the pilot, they declared it unfilmable and let the rights revert. King then went on to sell the rights to Ron Howard.

The real insult is that he refused to sell the rights to Frank Darabont, who has successfully adapted The Shawshank Redemption, The green Mile and The Mist.

 

[flipsalty]

Horrified. The books are too complex for TV, and too long for movies.

Come on, King, you have enough money. Let this one go.

EDIT: The graphic novels were bad. In the first one alone I picked out three events that didn't line up with the books continuity.

The first graphic novel followed the fourth book, where did it break continuity?

 

[DefunctTheory]

The Watchmen. V for Vendetta. From Hell. LxG.<----Learn from these. All of them are KILLER graphic novels. All of them are SHIT movies.

I'm thinking you're in for "a watered down piece of crap designed to appeal to a mass market..."

The Watchmen was bad, but V for Vendetta was a great movie. Perhaps a different story in some respects, but still great.

now, Wanted is a better example. Miserable movie, and not even CLOSE to the original. The original had a villain MADE OF THE FECES of the 666 most evil men ever to live.

Now THATS a movie I would have enjoyed.

EDIT:

EDIT: The graphic novels were bad. In the first one alone I picked out three events that didn't line up with the books continuity.

The first graphic novel followed the fourth book, where did it break continuity?

Perhaps not continuity... plot holes might be a better term.

In the graphic novel, Roland becomes aware of his little friends psychic warping, something which he is completely unaware of in the novels until book 6/7 (He admits to wondering, because he destroyed the bridge and yet was still followed, but he never actually found out how). And than there's the whole conversation with the Crimson King, where the big CK basically breaks down a good half of his plan and history, even though in the books Roland is ignorant to most of what is discussed.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Ah yes the Stephen King books. Well I can already predict the results of the film. The nerd crowd will hate it

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

Worried as all hell. Stephen King film/TV adaptations have been generally mixed, and I don't have good feelings about this one.

 

[diego_2112]

Watchmen was a good movie that was respectful to the source material. V For Vendetta changed a lot, but if they'd kept everything the same, it wouldn't have worked as a movie. The adaptation we got was a fine movie, if thematically different from the source material.

The Watchmen was bad, but V for Vendetta was a great movie. Perhaps a different story in some respects, but still great.
quote]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with ya there (then again, good movies/bad movies are relative). The Watchmen, although it did BETTER than Vendetta or LxG in keeping with the story, it TOTALLY messed up the ending, and that WAS a major thing. AND it did away with the Tales of the Black Freighter.

As far as Vendetta is concerned... If it's thematically different, then it's not the same story. I wanted to see ALAN MOORES V for Vendetta, not some hack screenplay writer's VERSION of V for Vendetta.

Again, this is all personal opinion.

 

[Happy Sock Puppet]

I'm scared. This could be a trainwreck. Trying not to get my hopes up too high.

 

[scnj]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with ya there (then again, good movies/bad movies are relative). The Watchmen, although it did BETTER than Vendetta or LxG in keeping with the story, it TOTALLY messed up the ending, and that WAS a major thing. AND it did away with the Tales of the Black Freighter.

As far as Vendetta is concerned... If it's thematically different, then it's not the same story. I wanted to see ALAN MOORES V for Vendetta, not some hack screenplay writer's VERSION of V for Vendetta.

Again, this is all personal opinion.

To fit in all the stuff necessary to build up to the 'alien', they'd have needed at least another hour of screen time. As it was, they presented the same idea in a different way. Also, Tales of the Black Freighter can be bought on it's own on DVD, or spliced into the film in the Ultimate Cut, also on DVD.

 

[OldAccount]

(deleted)

 

[OldAccount]

Worried as all hell. Stephen King film/TV adaptations have been generally mixed, and I don't have good feelings about this one.

Maybe so but I'm keeping optimistic. We could do allot worse then Ron Howard and the whole trilogy with a TV spot the fill in the blanks idea has me intrigued.

 

[diego_2112]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with ya there (then again, good movies/bad movies are relative). The Watchmen, although it did BETTER than Vendetta or LxG in keeping with the story, it TOTALLY messed up the ending, and that WAS a major thing. AND it did away with the Tales of the Black Freighter.

As far as Vendetta is concerned... If it's thematically different, then it's not the same story. I wanted to see ALAN MOORES V for Vendetta, not some hack screenplay writer's VERSION of V for Vendetta.

Again, this is all personal opinion.

To fit in all the stuff necessary to build up to the 'alien', they'd have needed at least another hour of screen time. As it was, they presented the same idea in a different way. Also, Tales of the Black Freighter can be bought on it's own on DVD, or spliced into the film in the Ultimate Cut, also on DVD.

And I would have GLADLY sat through that extra hour of screen time. To do Jon like they did... SO fucked up. I mean, I understand SOME creative liberty, and I'm fine with that (see Peter Jackson's LotR films... GREAT movies, even if I DO have a list 9 miles long on problems with them...), but what they did would be like having Frodo go to Mordor on the backs of the Eagles and just drop the ring in (btw, why DIDNT they just do that? I mean, the eagles were Gandalf's GO TO GUYS. They're up a tree? EAGLES! Battle of Five Armies, getting overwhelemd by the Goblins? EAGLES! Frodo trapped on the side of an exploding mt. Doom? CALL THE FUCKING EAGLES!)... Ah well, like I said, it's all opinion anyway. Granted, of the lot of Moore film adaptations, Watchmen IS the best one to date (seriously, dont EVEN get me started on LxG...)

And why should I have to pay EXTRA on top of what I already HAVE to get TotBF (please be minded, me bitching about that is the EXACT same as me bitching about Tom Bombadil... more of a "it really pissed me off they cut that," than anything substantial)?

 

[manythings]

The Watchmen. V for Vendetta. From Hell. LxG.<----Learn from these. All of them are KILLER graphic novels. All of them are SHIT movies.

I'm thinking you're in for "a watered down piece of crap designed to appeal to a mass market..."

He's called Alan Moore. Constantine wasn't too bad though, even if it gave exposure to that douche shia lebeouf.

OT: I think it is a never a bad policy to hope for the best and expect the worst. Also keep a very important fact in mind "What's on the page is best on the page but that doesn't make it even worth a frame of film". Pretty sure that was the quote, ballsed if I can think of who said it though.