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While Waiting For The Dark Tower
With recent reports that the Dark Tower movie has hit early snags -- namely, that certain big studios is getting scared -- I thought someone should remind us that there are plenty of other things Ron Howard and gang can work on while waiting for NBC, Universal and gang to think about how much money they're going to lose if they don't do the Dark Tower.
Here's just a few projects worth consideration:
- Duma Key
- Cell
- Lisey's Story
- Eyes of the Dragon
- Insomnia
- Needful Things remake (mini-series, please)
- Rose Madder
- The Talisman
- Blaze
- The Long Walk
- 1922
- Big Driver
- A Good Marriage
- From a Buick 8
So in short, I guess I am saying: Don't just sit there and wait. . . make a movie already. It feels like it's been a long time since Hollywood has given us a really good Stephen King adaptation.
If the whole stinkin' Dark Tower series really feels too big, just film the Wizard and Glass preview booklet that came free with Desperation -- that can't cost much!
Until then, I will read on and not be discouraged about the Dark Tower.
Maybe there is a storage room somewhere where we can go back in time and change the producers minds on this. . .
From a Buick 8 doesn't have a normal dramatic structure. The narrative would have to change a lot to make it a movie. The Talisman would be good, though.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that I hope I don't live long enough to see "Lisey's Story" made into a movie; I hated the novel, and I can't imagine liking the movie any better.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I want to see these Dark Tower movies get made, Universal is nuts for even considering them. Stephen King has only produced a small handful of movies that made any money at the box office, and none of them -- "The Green Mile" included (and that starred Tom Hanks at the height of his popularity) -- were huge hits. For them or anyone else to sink hundreds of millions of dollars into a project like this might be tantamount to financial suicide.
I've always felt that the way to go was for it to be a series on HBO. Looking at "Game of Thrones," I am only more convinced that that is the case. It would present some serious problems with the character of Jake, but it would be more sensible than hoping to get "Harry Potter"-sized hits out of these books, which are simply not likely to yield those results.
I think Universal is crazy to blink at this point. Look, they're going to make a LOT of money on this. So long as the first few movies are good, king fans will come out in force. More than that, new people will become excited as well. There is a massive audience for this. . . I think.
ReplyDeleteInteresting note on Buick 8. I hadn't thought of that.
I think it can make money, if structured right. The current set up of 3-movies, 2-TV series just sounds odd too me.
ReplyDeletePotentially, there IS a massive audience, but the key word in that is "potentially." Universal -- a studio which has an extremely poor track record of late -- would be risking a heck of a lot of money on something that has only a potential audience, not a guaranteed one. (Well, it's got a guaranteed audience of Dark Tower readers, but there aren't enough of us to matter, not in terms of making a movie a hit.)
ReplyDeleteI don't blame them for balking; I've no doubt that it is only the industry power of Ron Howard that got them to the table in the first place.
It's strange times in Hollywood, because everyone wants a franchise without taking any risks to establish one. Every studio wants a Harry Potter or a Twilight or a Dark Knight; every studio forgrets that none of those were sure things at the outset, either (including the Dark Knight; when "Batman Begins" went into production, Batman had become seriously devalued as a character, and that movie was no sure thing at the box office).
My guess: Universal passes, probably because its new owner, Comcast, mandates that they do so. At that point, maybe the project will find life at another studio. Let's hope so, at least.
So, back to development hell, never to reach its completion. Back to the Mohane Desert, so to speak. How fitting.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who was trying to figure out how they were going to do the TV/Movie thing?
ReplyDeleteIt's worth pointing out that "The Stand" languished in development hell for a decade before finally getting made as a miniseries. Of course, it was a fairly lousy miniseries, so maybe that's no comfort.
ReplyDeleteREALLY?! I liked the Stand mini-series. I thought it held tight to the original story.
ReplyDelete