Stephen King’s novels have been keeping many an avid reader awake at night and now one of his more audacious works is being brought to life by director Ron Howard.
The Dark Tower is the seven series novel which the author began in 1982 and has since sold 30 million copies worldwide. With plans for an eighth installment in the works, King also oversees the Marvel comics adaptation and contributes new content which expands the mythos further.
Set in the eerie world of magic, monsters and mutants, the main character Roland Deschain is a gunslinger searching for a mysterious castle which maybe the nexus of the universe. With overtones of the legend of King Arthur, a Tolkien like tapestry and a hero straight out of a spaghetti western, it’s a story that’s been waiting for an adaptation by the right filmmaker.
Ron Howard has been fascinated by the gunslinger’s quests ever since screenwriter Akiva Goldman brought him the idea when he was working on ‘A Beautiful Mind’. In a recent interview with the LA Times, the director said how he ‘really can’t stop thinking about it ‘ and via audio books and research he’s delved deeper into the world of the Gunslinger for the adaptation. The respected filmmaker worked hard to find a way into Stephen King’s magnum opus before presenting a treatment to the author:
We worked on it for a year before we even met with him… It was all about putting something together that was good enough and getting such an understanding of the material that Stephen King would say, ‘Yes, that’s the way into this story.
In a statement, King was very happy about the endeavor:
I’ve been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world. Ron, Akiva, Brian along with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the ‘The Dark Tower’ series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the origins and the characters in ‘The Dark Tower’ that fans have come to love.
King’s works have been adapted for both the big screen and television, but Ron Howard’s vision is one so bold that he plans to adapt the epic story in a multimedia event. Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment announced in September the plans by the filmmakers to chronicle the story in this way. Along with producer Brian Grazer, the story will start with an epic movie, then follow with a TV series that leads into a second film, which then launches another TV season showing the gunslinger Deschain as a young man. The third movie would serve to end the saga with the main character much older.
The studios have narrowed down the list of actors they are looking at to play the titular character with Javier Bardem the leading candidate and Viggo Mortensen a close second and also a fan favorite. With the TV series to feature both young and old versions of Deschain, the role would likely require multiple actors to portray the character at various stages. Though other reports indicate the intention is to use same cast for both the films and the television series. The plan to adapt such a story under the one umbrella is unlike any other production and bringing this epic story to life will require considerable investment by both cast and the production team.
The Dark Tower is a vast body of work that covers a lot of ground from a narrative perspective, however the dense stories isn’t something that intimidates Howard and Goldman. Whilst Damon Lindelof of Lost fame admits he abandoned the project as he feared the thought of simplifying and messing with the great work, Howards’ approach was one of looking at the source material, the arcs of the main characters and the texture of the world:
We say, ‘At their root they’re simple stories, don’t be afraid to keep it simple.
The first Dark Tower film is scheduled to hit cinemas on May 17, 2013.
You can learn more over at Stephen Kings Official Site.
Check out the Marvel comics promo here:
via: LA Times ScreenRant Collider NYPost
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