Is The Dark Tower movie Back?

Isn't it great when the whole  world knows your age?  Stephen King turned 67 Sunday.  Of greater interest to me is that news is spreading the Dark Tower might be moving forward.

examiner.com reported:

There's also news going around about Ron Howard making an attempt to green light "The Dark Tower" adaptation with Aaron Paul in talks to play the ex-drug addict Eddie Dean. King has also been known to appear in his own films, much like Alfred Hitchcock did back in the day.

Could UNDER THE DOME Give Life To THE DARK TOWER?

Cody Collier posted an interesting story at guardianlv.com that announces that the Dark Tower is set to be a live-action production.

Wait . . . WHAT?  Collier writes:

On the subject of The Dark Tower, much of the information about the production is still surrounded by speculation and mystery, but a few statements have been made clear. Academy award-winning director, Ron Howard has been attached to direct the adaptation of The Dark Tower series, but the form of adaptation the title is to take is still uncertain. The initial plan for the project was to create a trilogy of feature films deriving from multiple excerpts from the eight books included in the saga, but also, similar to Under the Dome, create two seasons of a television series that would seal up any gaps left in between each of the movies.

Stephen King may have this new series in the works, but the Under the Dome creator still suffers many difficulties in getting The Dark Tower on its feet. The two production companies, Warner Brothers and Universal have pulled their support for the project, most likely due to the complexity of its production. King states that he is still putting his faith in director, Ron Howard to see the project through at some point in the near future. Ties to the network HBO have been rumored and whispers of Russell Crowe playing the titular role of Roland Deschain have surfaced, but still nothing has been confirmed. The only official evidence that the project is still even happening can be seen on The Dark Tower IMDb, Internet Movie Database page confirming Howard as the director, Akiva Goldsman as the screenplay writer and Imagine Entertainment as the production company.

Since he's not citing a lot of sources, and most of the information here is a look BACK -- I'm not sure what Collier basing this on.  However, I'm always hopeful for a Dark Tower series.  HBO would be AWESOME.

At the heart of Collier's discussion seems to be that since Under The Dome series is doing well, maybe King might yet pull off a Dark Tower series.  I hope the fate of the Tower does not rest on the ratings of Under The Dome.

Concept Art from Ron Howard's Cancelled Adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower'

photo source: www.comicbookmovie.com

comicbookmovie.com has posted concept art from Ron Howard's stab at The Dark Tower.  It includes this note, "Conceptual illustrator, Gregory Hill ("The Amazing Spider-Man 2"), has updated his website with concept art that he created for Universal's cancelled film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, which Ron Howard ("Rush") was set to direct."

Movies.com Peter Hall remarks, "As much as we love to root for movies around here, we actually kind of hope that Howard and Goldsman's plans for a Dark Tower movie trilogy never do get off the ground. There's just too much material in the books to condense into even three movies. It really does deserve the Game of Thrones HBO treatment, but that will never happen so long as the movies are still in the works."

The current work on THE STAND movie should take note, as they are trying to squeeze  what could be an entire series into a feature movie.  (Yes, still sulking)

Hall explains the release of the concept art this way:

This week some concept art (and video; see above) created for the movie has been put online by illustrator Gregory Hill, and while it's not exciting material (it's basically just a tour through a few key locations from the books), it being published may be a sign that the movie has completely stalled. Universal was the last studio working with them on it, and this may be from the version that it nixed. Most movies don't let concept art out into the wild until after the movie has come out, so this could mean that whatever work Hill did would have never seen the light of day otherwise.

photo source: www.comicbookmovie.com

photo source: www.comicbookmovie.com

LILJA'S LIBRARY: Aaron Paul A Possible For Eddie Dean

Posted from my favorite Stephen King website, Lilja's Library:

Aaron Paul as Eddie Dean? Well, maybe. This is from Cinema Blend:

We’ve heard this before. But Paul was in Sundance recently promoting a new film, and was asked by Ain’t It Cool News about the Dark Tower books and whether he’d ever been considered for Dean. The character is a strung-out junkie pulled into a mystical realm by the story’s main hero, Roland, a gunslinger. Dean becomes a hero, despite his numerous flaws. Sounds a lot like Jessie, no? Anyway, Paul says that he hasn’t read all of the books (there are seven), but dropped this huge bomb:

Here is what he said...

I've had a ton of meetings on that. I just had a general sit down with Ron Howard, who is a huge fan of the show, which is such a crazy thing to even think that Ron Howard even knows who I am. They're definitely planning on making it. … I'm excited. Their goal is to do three films, but also have a television element to it, which will be very interesting. From what I hear, Eddie Dean is a pretty epic, iconic character.

Ron Howard gives an update on "The Dark Tower"

This is reposted from my friend Bryant Burnette's site, The Truth Inside The Lie

Ron Howard gives an update on "The Dark Tower" (hint: keep holding your breath)
by Bryant Burnette

 Ron Howard appeared on this week's episode of The Empire Film Podcast to promote his new film, Rush (which is getting brilliant reviews and seems destined to figure into the Oscar race next spring).  

Ron Howard filming Rush

Among other topics, Howard spoke a bit about the status of The Dark Tower.  I put my transcription skills to use, and here you have the results:

Empire:  We said at the beginning that you might not have been here had this been a Gran Prix Sunday, but also, equally you might not have been here if The Dark Tower happened for you.  What's the latest with that?

Howard:  The Dark Tower is something that we're still working on, and we've all sort of taken an agreed vow of silence about the progress, the headway, what we think our timetable is.  I don't think I realized how much media interest there was in the title and how much excitement there was.  It's a fascinating, powerful possibility, and even Stephen King acknowledges it's a tricky adaptation.  

  

To be honest, from a financing side, it's not a straightforward, four-quadrant, sunny superhero story: it's dark; it's horror.  That edge is what appeals to me, and the complexity of those characters is what appeals to all of us.  I think Stephen King really respects that Akiva Goldsman and myself...that that's what we love about it, and that's what we want to try and get to the screen.  So the answer is, it got delayed in our minds; it's never gone away.  We're working on it, and he's very patient with us.  

  

Akiva's just gone off and directed a movie, and I'm continuing to work, but the Dark Tower dreams -- the fever dreams -- are still with us.  But we're not going to give it a timetable, because it was always a little bit over-reported in terms of when we thought the start date was, and then it was hugely disappointing when we didn't meet that date, and so forth.  I don't think it's a project that really benefits from being scrutinized in that way.

Empire:  I'm sure your vow of silence will cover it, but...Stephen King himself appears in The Dark Tower.  Have you thought about how you might tackle that?

Howard:  Yes!  And I will admit that Stephen said, "I don't have to be in this."  But that's not to say that he won't be!

The Empire Film Podcast is a weekly show that is well worth a weekly listen.  You can find this week's episode here, and if you'd like to listen to the full Ron Howard interview, it begins at about the 46:00 mark and runs for about fifteen minutes.  In  addition to Rush and The Dark Tower, Howard has some great things to say about his role on the recent season of Arrested Development.

I'm a Ron Howard fan in general, and every time I hear something from him about The Dark Tower, he further convinces me that he's got what it takes to do a great job.  As for Rush, it sounds like it's pretty great; I look forward to seeing it in a couple of weeks, and if The Dark Tower had to get delayed, I'm glad the delay seems to have resulted in at least one excellent movie from Howard in the interim.

Could NETFLIX Take THE DARK TOWER ?

Could Netflix shoulder The Dark Tower?  I never thought of it until I read this STUFF interview with Netflix Chief Creative Officer, Ted Sarandos --

Arrested Development creator Ron Howard has also been circling Stephen King’s The Dark Tower – any chance Netflix could pick it up?
I spoke to Ron about it, actually. The last time we talked about it the thing was being kicked about HBO – but it’s no longer there. Once Arrested Development gets through we’ll keep talking about it.

I would wrinkle up my nose and go, "NETFLIX?!!!"  But  actually, the service has proved quite able to produce quality TV.  In fact -- our family went Netflix only over a year ago.  Why?  Because commercial free TV for cheap was awesome.  I watch what I want when I want and don't have to fast forward through commercials.  What's more, I'm no longer a 24/7 news junkie.

Here's why Netflix is a great avenue:

1. You can watch a lot at once.  I love it that Netflix will release an entire season at once.  Watch at your own pace.  Yes, if they did Dark Tower this way, I'd have to take time off work!  But it also allows you to go back, rewatch episodes in order to keep up.
2. With House of Cards, Netflix has proven to be able to produce edgy shows that are competitive with anything on TV.
3. Because it's not network TV, the shows have more freedom.  

The full interview  with Sarandos is www.stuff.tv/news

Interview with BEV VINCENT part 2

This is part 2 of my interview with Bev Vincent, author of The Road To The Dark Tower.  

You can read part 1 of the interview at talkstephenking.blogspot.com.


Talk Stephen King: Twenty-First Century King is a collection of reviews about King’s work. Does 21st century mean that the reviews were written by you since the year 2000, or that the books reviewed were all written after 2000? Can you tell us more about this book?

Bev Vincent: The books reviewed were all published after 1999. Brian Freeman at Cemetery Dance asked if I would be interested in doing a chapbook that collects my reviews of King’s work. When I started to assemble the text, I tried to come up with a theme. Since 1999 was such an important year in King’s life, with the near-fatal accident, I decided to focus on things published after that, starting with “Riding the Bullet” and ending with The Wind Through the Keyhole. I ended up with 21 reviews, and the manuscript came in at 21,000 words, so it seemed like there was some sort of synchrony at work. The 50-page chapbook has a nice glossy cover and was beautifully designed by the folks at CD. It’s limited to 750 copies, and every one is signed by me.

Talk Stephen King: You discussed recently in a blog post what you called "Narrative lapses and shortcuts." When an author messes up their story with inconsistencies. Do you spot many of these when reading King? 

Bev Vincent: The Dark Tower series is almost a study in narrative lapses! There are so many continuity errors in the early books (which were never copy edited prior to publication) that King decided to use some of them as an important component of the story. Others he simply ignored, such as character names that change from one page to the next or from one book to the next.

In that essay, I discussed characters who do things without sufficient motivation, or storytellers who drop important threads. I don’t observe things like that too often in King’s works, in part because he has fearsome editors who put his work under close scrutiny and catch any of these potential lapses or errors. People might complain about the odd typo or factual error that gets past everyone (the misspelling of Killeen throughout 11/22/63, for example, or gaffes involving the details of guns that King often makes), but in terms of dropping the ball narratively, I don’t see that in his work. He’s such a natural and intuitive storyteller that seems to know how to handle all the threads of the tale and when it’s time to come back to something.

My biggest complaint about something he does every now and then is that he has a narrator hide something from the reader. I remember this specifically in From a Buick 8 but it has happened elsewhere. A first person narrator details his movements step by step until he puts something in his pocket. The narrator doesn’t say what that is, because King wants it to be a surprise when it comes into play later, but in my opinion that’s cheating. Not playing fair.

Talk Stephen King: Are you a Dark Tower purist? Does it bother you when King revises the Dark Tower stories? Were changes made to the entire series, or only to the first novel?

Bev Vincent: I’m not a purist. I don’t mind when changes are made to books when they’re adapted to film, for example, though I know that it disturbs a lot of people, especially when the changes seem arbitrary. I don’t always agree with the changes King makes. I think it was a mistake to move The Stand forward a decade when he issued the restored edition in 1990. I know that he wanted to include echoes from the AIDS crisis, but he created so many anachronisms that it didn’t seem like a wise decision. A babysitter who was paid a dollar for an evening might have made sense in the 1970s, but it certainly didn’t fifteen years later.

To date, The Gunslinger is the only book in the series that he has revised. Every now and then he says he wants to go back over the whole thing and smooth it out, but I doubt he’ll do that. In fact, I asked him about that specifically during the interview for The Dark Tower Companion, but you’ll have to wait for the book to come out to hear what he said!

Talk Stephen King: We know that the Dark Tower reaches far beyond the pages of the eight books King has written that bear the title "A Dark Tower Novel." Does the Tower extend into the works of authors other than Stephen King? (For instance, Has Straub ever referenced it?)

Bev Vincent: Without King’s permission, other authors couldn’t do that. The characters are King’s intellectual property and he doesn’t often let other people play in his sandbox. It was Straub’s idea to incorporate Dark Tower elements into Black House, the sequel to The Talisman, which was written at a time when almost everything King worked on was steeped in Dark Tower mythos. So, in a way, Straub has “referenced” it. There is one element that goes in the other direction, though. Bango Skank, the never-seen graffiti artist from the Dark Tower series first appeared in a Straub story, “The Buffalo Hunter.” He and King talked about using the character in The Talisman, but they never did. With Straub’s permission, Bango Skank became a semi-regular apparition in the Dark Tower series.

Talk Stephen King: You interviewed Stephen King for The Dark Tower Companion. What was that like?
Bev Vincent: I’ve known King since about 1997, though the first time I met him was at a signing in Houston in 1988. We’ve corresponded off and on over the years, and I’ve met him on a number of occasions, most recently at the world premiere of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. We watch some of the same TV series (Sons of Anarchy and Dexter, for example) and read a number of the same authors, so we sometimes discuss these things. But I’ve never interviewed him before. I asked him the occasional question by e-mail while working on The Road to the Dark Tower, but never a formal live interview. It all went very well, though. I got some great quotes, and he knows how to manage the allotted time to best effect.

Talk Stephen King: Does the book come with his blessing, or is this "unauthorized"?

Bev Vincent: I would call all three books authorized in that I have always sought King’s “blessing” to do them and he has participated to some extent in all of them. For The Road to the Dark Tower, he provided the manuscripts of the final three books two years before they were published so my book could come out soon after The Dark Tower. Then he provided a generous quote for the cover. Then he allowed us to reproduce all that rare material for The Stephen King Illustrated Companion. For the new book, he provided an early manuscript of The Wind Through the Keyhole and again supplied a cover quote.

Talk Stephen King: The Dark Tower movie is on – then off – then on. (I honestly can’t remember at the moment where it is!) How well do you think The Dark Tower will translate to film?

Bev Vincent: It’s on hold, pending funding. Akiva Goldsman wrote a script that was with Universal for a long time. When they declined, he wrote a new version for Warner Bros. Ultimately they passed, too. The next day another company declared their interest in backing the project, but I’ve heard nothing concrete since then.

It’s a difficult project. For one thing, it isn’t ingrained in culture the way The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are. It’s difficult to summarize in a way that describes exactly what it’s all about. I spoke with Ron Howard about his ideas, and was fascinated by the concept they had come up with. It wasn’t one that was going to make everyone happy but, as I said before, I’m not a purist, so I was eager to see it. Then I talked with Akiva Goldsman at greater length for The Dark Tower Companion. He was the person who brought the series to Howard and convinced him it would make a fantastic series. I still hope they will get to do it. It’s an innovative approach in that it combines both the big scope of the cinema and the narrow, personal focus of television.

This final question and answer concerns the last Dark Tower novel and the conclusion to the series.  If you haven't read it. . . you've been warned.

Talk Stephen King: I have a nerd question that I have to ask about the Dark Tower. You are welcome to banish me to the wastelands for asking. I know you are not the author, but maybe you can explain: Throughout the series we are given the impression that the universe is breaking down, and at a greater speed until Roland reaches the Dark Tower. There is a sense of impending doom unless he gets there quick enough. However, when he gets there. . . he just resets into the desert. Wouldn’t his failure to complete the mission cause something really bad to happen? Have I misunderstood something essential in the Dark Tower?

Bev Vincent: I talk about this at some length in The Dark Tower Companion in a chapter called “The End and What It Might Mean.” That title indicates that it’s definitely open to interpretation. Here are my thoughts in a nutshell: Roland does not have to reach the Dark Tower—he has to save it from destruction. He wants to reach the Dark Tower for personal reasons that are tainted by hubris. He wants to face whoever abides at the top of the Tower for a reckoning and, perhaps, so he can get this entity to take back all the bad things Roland had to do to get there. Roland’s ka-given task is essentially complete when he frees the Breakers from Algul Siento. The stress on the Beams is removed and they will begin to heal. Some of the broken ones may even regenerate.

The Crimson King is trapped outside the Tower, though, and he has proven his ability to wreak havoc even from that perch, so it is perfectly understandable that Roland feels the need to dispatch or banish him, too. So, maybe he does have to go to the Tower after all. Once he eliminates the Crimson King, though, my feeling is that he should say his prayers and utter the names of all those he sacrificed along the way, and the turn on his heel and go away. I think of him returning to Calla Bryn Sturgis to spend the rest of his natural days with Rosalita. Maybe he’d be the town sheriff or maybe he’d grow beans. His fatal flaw is that he always enters the Tower. He allows pride to rule him, and he is punished for this. Doomed to repeat and repeat and repeat until he “gets it right.”

For an alternate take on this element of King’s philosophy (something that shows up in other works, such as Kingdom Hospital), listen to his reading of the short story “Afterlife” from his December 2012 appearance at UMass Lowell.

THANK YOU BEV VINCENT!
Check out Bev Vincnt's website at www.bevvincent.com

Interview With Bev Vincent part 1

Do you read Cemetery Dance?  I do!  And the first place I turn is to Bev Vincnt's column.  Even when there's a Stephen King story.  I was absolutely thrilled when Mr. Vincen allowed me the opportunity to ask him a series of interview questions.  This was really a gift of time on his part and I am supremely thankful.

On a personal note, this was exciting for me for two reasons.  First, Mr. Vincent is one of my favorite authors about Stephen King.  I've been using his book The Road to the Dark Tower as I read through the series again and have found it very helpful.  His book The Stephen King Companion is all out fun!

Second, this gave me an opportunity to ask some questions about the Dark Tower and the Stephen King Universe that I've thinking about ever since I read The Dark Tower 7.

Bev Vincent's The Stephen King Illustrated Companion was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award as well as  the 2009 Bram Stoker Award.

THE INTERVIEW

Talk Stephen King: Tell me a little about yourself. Do you focus primarily on King, or do you also write fiction? 

Bev Vincent: I’m originally from eastern Canada, though I’ve been living in Texas since 1989. In 2012, I became a dual citizen.

I write just about everything: non-fiction, book reviews, essays, blogs, short stories and novels. After a long hiatus from writing, I started working on short stories in 1999 and had my first one published the following year. In 2001, Rich Chizmar at Cemetery Dance asked me if I would consider writing the Stephen King news column that appears in each issue of the magazine, and I’ve been doing that ever since. I’ve written three books to date and edited one (The Stephen King Illustrated Trivia Book). I’ve published over 70 short stories, hundreds of book reviews and dozens of essays.

Talk Stephen King: You have a doctorate in chemistry – which suggests you do a lot more than just write books about Stephen King! What else do you do?

Bev Vincent: I have a Ph. D. in chemistry from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. My specialty is a type of analysis known as X-ray diffraction—specifically, X-ray crystallography. We shoot X-ray beams at crystals and analyze the scattering pattern to determine the molecular structure of the compound and how the molecules pack together to make the crystal. This type of analysis has many uses, and may practitioners have won Nobel Prizes for determining the structures of biologically interesting molecules using the method. The company I work for manufactures and sells the equipment and software used for a wide range of X-ray analysis techniques. That’s my so-called day job. I’ve worked for the same company for 23 years.

Talk Stephen King: I’ve been reading The Road to the Dark Tower as I read through the Dark Tower novels. I saw you have a new companion book to the Dark Tower coming out (The Dark Tower Companion). How is it different from The Road to the Dark Tower?

Bev Vincent: When King published an eighth Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, people asked me if I was going to update The Road to the Dark Tower to incorporate the new volume. I thought that sounded like a good idea, but my agent suggested that a completely new book would be even better. The Road to the Dark Tower is intended for people who have read (or are reading) the series. It looks at the series as a whole and explores it in detail. I liken my role to that of a tour guide escorting someone through the series, pointing out all the links, details, connections and references that a casual reader might otherwise have missed, especially on a first reading. The spoilers come early—only Chapter 1 is spoiler free. That was the only way I could see to do it at the time. You can’t talk about what happens at the Way Station after Jake and Roland leave, for example, without referring forward to Wolves of the Calla.

The impetus for The Dark Tower Companion was the news of a possible film adaptation of the series, together with the Marvel graphic novel adaptations. It seemed to me that there might be people who came to the series from sources outside the series books themselves. People who’ve read Insomnia or Hearts in Atlantis, too, who might be curious about who the Crimson King is, or what Breakers are. The new book is less analytical in some ways, although there are several chapters at the end where I wax philosophical about what it all means.

However, it starts off generally. What is Mid-World? What is the Dark Tower? Who is Roland? What is the nature of his quest? Questions of that sort. The chapters on the individual books are more self-contained, without much by way of forward-reaching spoilers.

The book has a comprehensive glossary of people, places and things, separated by those that are part of “our world” and those from Mid-World. It isn’t a Concordance (like Robin Furth’s). It doesn’t tell you on what pages you can find every mention of a character, although it does list the books in which a character (or place or thing) appears. The glossary tells you everything you might want to know about these entries, though.

This is the first book to address the Marvel adaptations and their place in the canon (or not). I look at each graphic novel series and underline the places where it provides new scenes or material, and the places where it diverges from or contradicts King’s novels. I also provide summaries of the extra material found in each issue for people who haven’t read the graphic novels.

I interviewed a lot of people for the book. Stephen King told me a few things about the series that he’s never said before. Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman explained in detail how they plan to adapt the books to film and television if they can find a partner willing to fund the project. Brian Stark discusses the Discordia interactive game on King’s website. I also interviewed Robin Furth about the Marvel adaptation, as well as most of the major artistic contributors: illustrator Jae Lee, colorist Richard Isanove, scripter Peter David and several artists who stepped in after Jae Lee left the project.

There’s a chapter on the history of Mid-World and another on its geography. I tried my hand at creating a map of the parts of Mid-World that we know from the books, and I was surprised at how neatly it came together. Information from The Wind Through the Keyhole helped place a lot of it in context (the relative location of Gilead, for example) and, despite some contradictions within the text and the variable nature of direction and distance in Mid-World, it all came together nicely. I’m nobody’s cartographer, but I think people will be interested by the map. I also created a Dark Tower tour guide to Manhattan, which points out as many of the places in the city that are mentioned in the series as I could, along with a second map.

The book is 50% longer than The Road to the Dark Tower and, unlike the first book, is completely footnote-free! And it’s all new text.

Talk Stephen King: My favorite Stephen King companion book is The Stephen King Illustrated Companion. Not only is the text great, but it is full of reproductions of first drafts and early copies of the manuscripts. How did that book come together?

Bev Vincent: That was a fascinating and fun project that came to me out of the blue.  The book chain Barnes & Noble had published reader’s companions to Poe and Jane Austen and decided they wanted to do one on King. They reached out to the same book packager who had done the previous books, a company called becker&mayer! that specializes in design-heavy books. Their editor contacted me on the strength of The Road to the Dark Tower and asked if I would be interested in writing the book’s text.

The challenge was to write something meaningful that combined the concepts of biography and light literary analysis. Given the limited page count, I clearly couldn’t cover King’s entire bibliography (nor would I have wanted to—that would be a person’s life work!). I worked from a few governing principles: I wanted to focus on books that almost everyone has heard of, even if they aren’t King fans. I needed to pick books that spanned his writing career to that point (otherwise I could have gotten bogged down with the famous books from the 1970s and never made it to the 2000s). And I wanted books that either had a significant autobiographical or semi-autobiographical aspect to them, or ones that were written when there was something interesting going on in King’s life.

Once I chose the books and had my outline approved by the editor and Barnes & Noble, it was simply a matter of writing the text, which took about six weeks. I finished ahead of schedule, which meant that the documents specialist had the full text to work from when selecting the photographs and other accompanying materials that are a hallmark of their reader’s companions. These books aren’t simply read—they’re experienced. You can spend hours with one and never read a word of the text! We obtained King’s permission to search his archives at the University of Maine and reproduce anything we wanted. King had veto power, but he never employed it. He also provided access to a personal photo album. The book became a real treasure trove of never-before-seen material. The fact that it was so handsomely produced and inexpensive means that it was available to anyone who wanted it. It sold so well, there was a second printing within about a year. Sadly, it’s now out of print, but I have hopes that B&N will bring it back out again in the future.

One interesting spin-off from the book is that I was interviewed extensively for an updated version of the King profile for the Biography Channel. The person who interviewed me for it drew a lot of material from the book. Her copy was full of post-it notes and book marks. This version is only available internationally—it never airs in the US.

Talk Stephen King: Do you have some favorite non-King writers?
Bev Vincent: Indeed I have many. So many that my mind freezes whenever I’m asked the question. I read a lot of crime fiction by authors like Ian Rankin, Jonathan Kellerman, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, Kate Atkinson, George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane. I read Alexander McCall Smith’s novels to my wife, along with the humorous essays of fellow Canadian Stuart McLean. I don’t read a lot of horror and very little science fiction and fantasy these days, though I once did.

I’ll read anything Peter Straub, Dan Simmons, Ian McEwen and Graham Joyce publish. I’ve lately become fond of foreign crime writers like Jo Nesbo, Steig Larsson, Natsuo Kirino and Keigo Higashino. I’m currently reading NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, and I really liked Owen King’s debut novel, Double Feature, which will be out in April. I’ve been enjoying Justin Cronin’s trilogy, am a fan of Stephen R. Donaldson’s fantasy series, and am challenged by the novels of Umberto Eco. To get an idea of what I’ve read over the past several years, check out my review page: www.onyxreviews.com

Talk Stephen King: Do you have a favorite Dark Tower book? 
Bev Vincent: I have a hard time making top ten lists or picking favorites. My mind doesn’t work that way. However, that said, I would have to choose The Gunslinger as my favorite.

Talk Stephen King: Why?
Bev Vincent: I know that wouldn’t be the obvious choice—a lot of people haven’t gotten into the Dark Tower series because that can be a difficult book—but I love it for the overall mood it casts. I first read it in 1984 and for a number of years it was the only Dark Tower book. I’ve read it many times over the years. It’s compact and dense, the protagonist isn’t terribly likable, but it has this haunting aura that charmed me.

Talk Stephen King: A favorite non-Tower King book? 
Bev Vincent: When I’m asked this question, I almost always think of Bag of Bones, his first book with Scribner, and its bookend partner, Lisey’s Story. I consider them a matching set. The writer without his wife; the wife without the writer. There’s a lot going on in Bag of Bones that makes it feel like a highly personal novel. I was also impressed by the writing process—how King wove in a crucial subplot that wasn’t present in the first draft. It becomes one of the most important facets of the story, but King put it in like an artist painting highlights on a nearly finished works. Little daubs of paint here and there. It was a lesson in the craft of writing.

Talk Stephen King: Is there any Stephen King book you just don’t like or couldn’t make it through? 
Bev Vincent: None that I couldn’t make it through, but a few that I dislike. I enjoyed the opening section of The Tommyknockers. I liked Bobbi and Gard a lot and was frustrated when King abandoned them for hundreds of pages to tell us about all these other people about whom I cared not a whit. I kept wanting to get back to Bobbi and Gard, which made it feel like I was just flipping pages. King thinks people missed the point on Needful Things, but my problem with the book is that it was missing the key element present in the rest of his work: likable characters. I hardly liked anyone in that book. And the wonky pseudoscience in Cell wrecked the book for me. It’s fine to have wibbly wobbly bits in a book so long as the story doesn’t rely on them. The whole “save to disk and reboot” concept didn’t hold water, so I couldn’t enjoy the book.

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PART TWO WILL POST JANUARY 2, 2013

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Check out Bev Vincent's website at www.bevvincent.com

Fleming: Kings Reaction To WB Passing On Dark Tower

Mike Fleming at Deadline has a summery of the events surrounding Warner Bros. decision to pass on the Dark Tower, where the property presently is and most interesting to me -- the reaction of Stephen King.  Fleming's article, "'Ted’ Backer MRC In Talks To Finance Stephen King’s ‘The Dark Tower" is at www.deadline.com

Fleming writes:

I just interviewed the author; King knows his way around a good story, and here is how he described what is waiting for whoever steps up to fund this movie: “The Dark Tower, to me, and I’m not unbiased because I’m the writer on this thing, but to me it looks like gold on the ground waiting to be picked up.”

Fleming summarizes the situation with what is on all of our hearts: "I hope that Howard and his posse reload and try again, but this is a major setback for them."

The Dark Tower Movie

After posting that Warner Bros. had passed on The Dark Tower, Dread Central issued a new article from Uncle Creepy stating not so fast, the Dark Tower might yet rise again.

Dread Central cites Deadline:

Media Rights Capital is in serious talks to take on The Dark Tower after Warner Bros. declined to make what potentially amounts to three feature films and two limited run TV series. 

The article is HERE.

Question: Is the Dark Tower movie  something that still gets King readers excited, or have we become a bit numb to the whole thing?

Might Russell Crowe Be Roland Deschain?

The Dark Tower might be back on track !  And, a new Roland is a real possibility.

Mike Fleming at Deadline has posted  news that Akiva Goldsman has given Warner  Brothers a new script for the first installment of The Dark Tower.  A decision to green light the film or not will be made "within two weeks."

And for the big question. .  . who would  be playing Roland Deschain?  How about Russell Crowe?  Fleming writes: "I’m told that director Ron Howard and producers Brian Grazer and Goldsman have been talking with their A Beautiful Mind star Russell Crowe about playing Deschain."

Fleming clariies that there is "no deal with Crowe" at the present time.


My wife gives the "oh yeah" go ahead to Crowe. . . I have no idea why.  She  says he has the "rugged masculinity" that characterizes Roland.  "After all," she declared with a bit  too  much delight, "he was Gladiator."  Oh well, my vote is still for Clint Eastwood.

The full article is at www.deadline.com

Drew Struzan Still At Work

image credit: HERE

You've seen Drew Struzan's work, even if you haven't heard his name. He is the artist who has made posters for movies such as The Shawshank Redemption, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and more.


He retired after 40 years, but didn't stay out of the game for long! slashfilm.com reports:

Struzan allowed Mondo, the poster boutique of the Alamo Drafthouse, to screen print and release some of his previously created art for Frankenstein and The Thing. Each poster was a massive success and Struzan was extremely happen with the results. So happy in fact, they’re now working on screen printing his work for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. Still, this is all art he’d previously created. Save for offering some help on Cowboys & Aliens and The Walking Dead, he remained retired.

Check out the full article HERE.

Lickona's Hypothesis For The Dark Tower's Delay

I'm left speechless (well, I'm not really speechless). . . and annoyed. . . by Matthew Lickona short article at sandiegoreader.com titled, "Is God Smiting Ron Howard for Making The Da Vinci Code?"  Lickona then posts a list of successful Howard films that were pre-Da Vinci.  This is compared to a list of movies that lost money at the box office post Da Vinci.

Lickona seems to even attribute failure to land a Dark Tower deal to the hand of the Almighty, writing, "he's been  trying for a couple of years now to land a deal to make Stephen King's The Dark Tower into a film, or rather, a series of films.  No luck  yet."

Of  course, he is following up on a series of articles  in which he thinks God  must be "smiting" various actors for their parts  int he Davinci Code.   (Tom Hanks got Lickona's smiting HERE)

I'm left scracthing my head on this one.  REALLY?  That's how Mr. Lickona thinks God works?  He thinks that God is opposed to Ron Howard, and thus the Dark Tower isn't getting made?  I mean, if God worked that way, wouldn't the entire porn industry go broke?  No signs of that  happening, right?  (I'm using an extreme example, so don't go  nutso on me.) But, didn't Bill Mahar's movie do well at  the theater?  I mean, if there was a Hollywood type you would think God would be aiming at, wouldn't it be him?  Makes me think: MAYBE GOD DON'T WORK THAT WAY!

Obviously I'm not a fan of the Da Vinci code.  However, the Da Vinci Code did make money.  So the entire premise makes no sense!  It's just annoying.  But I feel so much better having pointed out how STUPID such logic is.  I think the Bible shows us that God works with us on a much more individual basis.  He convicts us of sinful  behavior and calls for personal repentance; I can't really think of an instance of his smiting entertainment profits.  He reserves most judgment for a day called. . . hold your breath, this is creative. . . judgment day!  I don't think he goes around cursing and smiting Hollywood movies!  If that is really the way Mr. Lickona thinks God works, maybe he should begin having prayer vigils for Mr. Howard so that we can get  the Dark Tower movie  off the ground!

Now, on the positive side, he also has declared that God  is smiting Mel  Gibson for making the Passion of the Christ.  He writes, "Look, it's pretty clear that God's been smiting Mel Gibson ever since Mel made The Passion of the Christ."  (HERE)

As if. . . of all the messed up things Mel  has done, what God is made  about is the movie.  Never mind the abusive behavior, the way he treats. . . everyone. . . what God is focused on is the movie.

Lickona's brilliance is on full display HERE.

Warner Brothers eyes The Dark Tower

picture credit: hollywood.com

Mike Fleming at Deadline.com  has posted news that Warner Brothers is very interested in the property.  (HERE)  If all goes well, filming could take place as soon as 2013.  That's assuming, of course, that the world doesn't end in 2012.


Fleming writes: 

Warner Bro's is now very close to a deal that will give Ron Howard the chance to direct at least the first feature, potentially with Javier Bardem starring as gunslinger Roland Deschain. And Akiva Goldsman (who wrote the script) is producing with Brian Grazer and the author. 

Basically the studio bought Goldsman’s script and are paying him to do a polish. Howard remains attached to direct, likely in first-quarter 2013. Pic is a co-production between Goldsman’s Weed Road and Howard and Grazer’s Imagine. Bardem’s participation would depend upon his availability, but he was firmly attached when the project was at Universal.

Fleming also says, "I’d heard Warner Bros has been interested for some time, and the arrangement with sister studio HBO makes a lot of sense."


Good news for all, isn't it?!  Check out the full article.  The Dark Tower draws ever closer!  Until then, go read The Wind Through The Keyhole.

Howard Still On Track To Direct Tower

The Dark Tower has been on and off the table more times than Carrie has been remade.  Most recently Universal asked that the project be trimmed down, and then they pulled the plug.  Ouch.  HBO seemed poised to take a shot at the tower, but the silence there after would have pleased a world war 2 sub commander.  Nothing.

Howard moved on to other projects and it seemed the tower was going to fade away, or at least that it was not going to be a Ron Howard deal.

However, Fans share posted a twitter recently from Howard that says he plans to and that he "loves" it.

This is from Fans share (HERE)

A fan recently asked Ron Howard on Twitter whether or not he was still looking to direct The Dark Tower and Ron retweeted the message with a response. It read, “@RealRonHoward please answer me do you direct THE DARK TOWER?” I hope and plan to. Love it” The Dark Tower is a fantastic novel and we truly believe that Ron Howard could do The Dark Tower movie justice.

The Dark Tower Still Homeless

While Ron Howard signs new deals with HBO, Deadline gives this quote from Akiva Goldsman, “we’re still pushing the boulder uphill.” Deadline says that Goldsman is optimistic that the ambitious project will find a home “very soon.” But he just signed a 2 year deal with HBO to make a series about Doc Holliday.  Ron Howard is expected to direct the pilot. 

Deadline article is HERE.

Howard Talks DARK TOWER Movie

Hollywood Reporter has posted an interview with Ron Howard.  The meat of the interview revolves around Howard's current project RUSH.

The Tower still has a hold of Ron Howard's heart. he says he is in love with the material and is "fully committed to it."

The Reporter asked Howard about the future of Dark Tower.  Howard said that work on the script continues as they seek ways to make the budget more "manageable" and "still deliver the work in a way that the project deserves."  That sounds hopeful!

Howard also notes that projects like the Dark Tower often take years to "come together the right way."  Which, again, is exactly what Constant Readers want to hear!  Go ahead, take your time. . . just do it right!

We should note that the books themselves did not come to any of us as quickly as we wanted.  There were long (very long) gaps between each installment.  King was hounded by fans to finish he project.  In the end, he took his time and did it right.  Of course, there were no budget cuts in the novels!

Road To The Dark Tower Turns Toward HBO

Speaking with MTV News at the "Tower Heist", Brian Grazer revealed that "The Dark Tower" is still very much on track.  In fact, HBO has come on board. 

This is from the MTV Movie Blog. 

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Tower Movie Reappears On The Horizon

Brian Grazer, producer of "The Dark Tower" movies and screen writer Akiva Goldsman, along with Ron Howard, have not given up on their pursuit of The Tower! 

THE PLAYLIST caught up with Brian Grazer and learned that there is yet hope for the dark tower.  As the Playlist reports, the budget has been "shaved." 

Grazer says, “We found a way to cut out $45 million out of the budget without changing the scope and actually giving it a good ending."   

The Playlist also quotes him as saying, “In the $140 million draft, the ending wasn’t quite as satisfying. Now, we’ve got $45 million, $50 million out of the way and a really satisfying ending. It’s gonna get made.”

So. . . uhhh, the ending is better with the smaller budget?  Lost me on that one!  Of course, the book ends very much like it starts, so if the movie follows that path -- it certainly cuts down on budget!

The Plalist also notes that "with Javier Bardem still attached in the lead role of Roland Deschain, and with a scaled down budget, financing will likely be much easier to pull together and perhaps we’ll see The Dark Tower kicked back to life sooner than we thought."

More Details Emerge About The Dark Tower's Cancellation

Ryan Nakashima at Associated Press has an article titled "Hollywood cutting back on big budget movies" in which he references the Dark Tower movie cancellation.

In July, two major projects were stopped mid-stream because of budget pressures. The Walt Disney Co. halted "The Lone Ranger," starring Johnny Depp, even though sets were already half-built in New Mexico. Universal pulled out of "The Dark Tower," a three-movie, two-TV-series colossus based on books by Stephen King. 

A person familiar with Disney's thinking said the budget on "The Lone Ranger" was creeping north of $250 million, and the company wanted to shave it to around $200 million. 

Universal, which became a unit of cable TV provider Comcast Corp. this year, withdrew from "The Dark Tower" because of problems with the business model, according to another person, who is familiar with that matter.

Nakashima goes on to explain why big budget films aren't being produced anymore.  A hint. . . it has to do with DVD sales and the "DVD boom."  Did you know there was a DVD boom?  I didn't! 

He also offers this note on the Dark Tower,

The producers of The Dark Tower are faced with raising money and finding another studio to distribute the series. Producer Ron Howard said in a statement sent to The Associated Press, "we are continuing to be actively working on the project." Howard and his co-producer Brian Grazer face a tough fight. Not only did they produce the money-losing "Cowboys & Aliens," but Hollywood's love of sequels tends to fade quickly if the first installment fails to perform.