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Thread: Stephen King's Stuff

  1. #1
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Stephen King's Stuff



    J.J. Abrams and co. have purchased the rights to the entire "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King.

    Now, as we all know, this doesn't necessarily mean they'll get made. I once went to a lecture by a fairly big screenwriter from the area who said that any book you see for sale at a bookstore has movie rights owned by someone, and only a fraction of a percentage will ever get made.

    However, with this apparently being pimped as "the next Lord of the Rings series", who knows?

    And since the comic book series' have done surprisingly well both critically and commercially, maybe they are really going to put some work into getting this on the screen.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  2. #2
    Quote Quoting That Article
    King must be an enormous Abrams fan, because he already turned down Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist), who was interested in adapting the series himself.
    I'm game. And King sold them the rights for a reported $19? They must already have an idea King likes.

    My guess: first film will hit theaters in 2012, directed by one of Abrams's proteges.

  3. #3
    I could be wrong, but this doesn't seem like a franchise they would sit on indefinitely.

  4. #4
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    The thing is, this could potentially be one of the greatest film series' of all time.

    The chances of it turning out that well? Pretty slim.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  5. #5
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    ahhhh which ones do i need to finish???
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  6. #6
    I actually have a reasonable amount of faith in Abrams. Bring it on.

  7. #7
    i wish marvel would adapt the books themselves so i don't have to read wizard and glass

  8. #8
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Sycophant (view post)
    And King sold them the rights for a reported $19?
    Ah...19. The connections are already being made in an appropriately meta way.

    Brings back many great memories of reading this series. Still the best story I've ever read. Definitely not the best written books I've ever read, not even close, but nothing I've encountered compares to the narrative King weaves with Roland and his Ka-Tet.

  9. #9
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Acapelli (view post)
    i wish marvel would adapt the books themselves so i don't have to read wizard and glass

    Just skip the flashback. I've read the series twice and never read that 400 page, narrative-halting flashback all the way through. It's a waste of time. Just read the first couple of chapters and meet back up with the ka-tet when the story returns to them in Blain the Train, because the ending is damn awesome.

    Dangit - now I really, really want to reread this series again.

    Wolves of the Calla is my favorite.

  10. #10
    Evil mind, evil sword. Ivan Drago's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Sycophant (view post)
    I actually have a reasonable amount of faith in Abrams. Bring it on.
    So do I. Bring on the lens flares!
    Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)

    The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
    Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
    Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
    M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
    Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
    Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5

    615 Film
    Letterboxd

  11. #11
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Man, my mind is racing now.

    How will they handle all the meta stuff?

    [
    ]

    What was cool on paper -

    [
    ]

    Might be really cheesy on screen.

    How will they introduce those special characters?

    I absolutely loved the ending of the series, but I can't see it working on screen even though it so totally represents the series' narrative and themes.

    Will they invest a lot of money in 7 films that should probably be rated 'R'? There is some brutal stuff in these books, and often times the brutality happens during crucial plot points.

    How will they handle all the references to other books and movies?

    [
    ]

    What about the deeper themes, and the examination of the nature of fiction?

    This is going to be awesome. I can't wait to see how they adapt everything, and hopefully they are smart and adept enough to, first and foremost, make the films work as films. Change what needs to be changed for the new medium, and keep what works.

  12. #12
    Quote Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
    Just skip the flashback. I've read the series twice and never read that 400 page, narrative-halting flashback all the way through. It's a waste of time. Just read the first couple of chapters and meet back up with the ka-tet when the story returns to them in Blain the Train, because the ending is damn awesome.

    Dangit - now I really, really want to reread this series again.

    Wolves of the Calla is my favorite.
    i wish someone had told me way back when while i was reading the series

    if i went back to it, i'd have to start from the beginning

  13. #13
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Acapelli (view post)
    i wish someone had told me way back when while i was reading the series

    if i went back to it, i'd have to start from the beginning
    W&G is my least favorite of the series. And yet most DT fans rank it as their favorite. Boggles my mind. King stops the narrative dead...

    The first part is awesome, the final battle and the last part are awesome. The 400 page flashback is not. There is no need for it. King grinds his narrative to a halt for no reason. Everything we need to know about Roland has been thus far expertly SHOWN in his actions and mannerisms. The flashback is worst than unnecessary, it is down right insulting. It's as if King didn't have enough faith in his own characterization or in the intelligence of his readers, and so he felt as if we had to have an origin story. Origin stories suck. Up until this point, the narrative has been constantly pushing forward, and here, everything comes derailed for a small and superfluous look at a character who is already so wonderfully drawn.

    Skip it. By a cheap paperback and rip that section out, and then tape the other two back together. It can easily be read as a ~100 novella as a prologue of sorts to Wolves of the Calla. It's worth it just to read Wolves. That's my favorite book by King.

  14. #14
    i'm kind of tempted to start the series again. i haven't read any king since everything's eventual

    i do own the first 5 dt books, so it wouldn't be hard

  15. #15
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Acapelli (view post)
    i'm kind of tempted to start the series again. i haven't read any king since everything's eventual

    i do own the first 5 dt books, so it wouldn't be hard
    I'm really tempted to start it again tonight.

    ...

    I read the whole thing in a year. I timed it so that I'd start it and finish right when the last book came out. It was perfect. Such a powerful experience, I'll never forget it. And again, unlike most DT fans, I loved the last 2 books, and I loved the ending. It was just perfect.

    I don't know. It's like King wrote these stories with me in mind. They just really spoke to me.


    Actually, I'm going to start with Wastelands. I recently reread books 1 and 2 for reviews, so I can easily jump in at 3.

  16. #16
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    In defense of Wizard and Glass...

    [
    ]

    I spoilered it all just cause I'm not sure what'd be too much.

  17. #17
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Also, I've said it many times, but animation.

    It's the only way to make a cohesive series (film saga?). Why? Because of Jake, the twelve-year-old who ages all of three months throughout the thousands of pages. Be it motion capture, CG, or hand-drawn, the thing can only work at its optimal length with voice characterization.

    One more thing:

    1) The Drawing of the Three
    2) Wizard and Glass
    3) Wolves of the Calla
    4) The Gunslinger
    5) The Dark Tower
    6) The Waste Lands
    7) Song of Susannah

  18. #18
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Dead & Messed Up (view post)
    One more thing:

    1) The Drawing of the Three
    2) Wizard and Glass
    3) Wolves of the Calla
    4) The Gunslinger
    5) The Dark Tower
    6) The Waste Lands
    7) Song of Susannah
    I have a feeling things will be in an order different than the order the books were published in.

  19. #19
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Dead & Messed Up (view post)
    Also, I've said it many times, but animation.

    It's the only way to make a cohesive series (film saga?). Why? Because of Jake, the twelve-year-old who ages all of three months throughout the thousands of pages. Be it motion capture, CG, or hand-drawn, the thing can only work at its optimal length with voice characterization.

    One more thing:

    1) The Drawing of the Three
    2) Wizard and Glass
    3) Wolves of the Calla
    4) The Gunslinger
    5) The Dark Tower
    6) The Waste Lands
    7) Song of Susannah
    Is this the order I should complete them in too?
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  20. #20
    Crying Enthusiast Sven's Avatar
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    I feel I can expertly comment on this.

    1) I'm 90% convinced this could never work (even despite JJ's involvement... man, King has got some terrible taste sometimes). It's simply too reliant on the kind of division between fiction and reality that works on the page that has never worked on film. The closest a film has ever come to achieving it is Last Action Hero, and that probably doesn't bode well. Even though I kind of like that movie. I can see the first and second books working well, but the other three involve concepts way, way too elaborate to not be ridiculous.

    2) The flashback in IV may not be relevant to the overall trajectory of the series, but as its own novel, it is pretty awesome and that you're so dismissive of it, D, is rather confusing and a tad worrisome.

    I'd rank them as thus:

    Drawing of the Three (would make a sweet, sweet, sweet movie)
    The Dark Tower
    The Wolves of the Calla
    The Song of Susannah
    Wizard and Glass
    The Wastelands
    The Gunslinger

  21. #21
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    I haven't read The Dark Tower, but I thought The Purple Rose of Cairo did a very good job with the division between fiction and reality.

  22. #22
    Crying Enthusiast Sven's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    I haven't read The Dark Tower, but I thought The Purple Rose of Cairo did a very good job with the division between fiction and reality.
    It's fun, but it doesn't work in the same way. Allen basically removes the division entirely, allowing the actors on screen to interact with the audience. Removing the division is not what King is interested in doing.

  23. #23
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Sven (view post)
    It's fun, but it doesn't work in the same way. Allen basically removes the division entirely, allowing the actors on screen to interact with the audience. Removing the division is not what King is interested in doing.
    Ah. Like I said, haven't read the books, so I wasn't sure.

  24. #24
    Crying Enthusiast Sven's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    Ah. Like I said, haven't read the books, so I wasn't sure.
    There are quite a few films I like that attempt that whole reality/fiction relationship, but I can't imagine King's thousands upon thousands of pages could ever be adapted satisfactorily in that regard. The stories themselves might be told with relative efficiency, but there's no way that the themes of the books, which basically describe King's entire creative philosophy and are what elevate the books from superior fantasy to (*wince*) high art, could ever be adapted to film. I guess it's similar to the way people are convinced that a film adaptation of The Watchmen would never work. So much medium specific commentary and convoluted relationships to reality and such.

    I will say that it would be cool if King played himself.

  25. #25
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting D
    I have a feeling things will be in an order different than the order the books were published in.
    Probably. Le sigh.

    Is this the order I should complete them in too?
    No. Go ahead and read from beginning to end - probably worth it to read the revised Gunslinger, although I thought the original was just fine.

    Quote Quoting Sven
    Even though I kind of like that movie. I can see the first and second books working well, but the other three involve concepts way, way too elaborate to not be ridiculous.
    I think it'd be incredibly difficult as soon as

    [
    ]

    Quote Quoting Sven (view post)
    I will say that it would be cool if King played himself.
    I always thought Benicio Del Toro could do a pretty good job as King, oddly enough.

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