As much a fan as I am of Stephen King’s epic series, The Dark Tower, I really, really hope they don’t make a movie/movies out of it. Actually, I think it’s because I’m such a King/Dark Tower fan, that I don’t want them to make a movie out of it. Two main reasons come to the forefront of my mind.
Firstly, Hollywood has managed to fuck up just about every Stephen King story that has every been adapted to film, even when King is involved in the adaptation. Whether by substandard direction, low budget, or ridiculous special effects/monsters, they always manage to render King’s creations sort of…ridiculous. They turn the scary silly, the morbid mundane. In fact, the only adaptations of King’s stories that I can think of off the top of my head that were successful in any way were not initially billed in connection with King. Like Stanley Kubrick‘s adaptation of The Shining, and more recently the film adaptation of The Green Mile, it was as if Hollywood feared limiting the scope of their viewers by associating it with the horror novel master’s name.
“Don’t you DARE make a Dark Tower movie! Just don’t. Fucking. Do it.”
And the second reason I really hope they don’t make a movie out of DT, equally if not more important than the first reason, is the fact that Stephen King’s Dark Tower series is his magnum opus. THE magnum opus. Now with the addition of The Wind Through the Keyhole, a volume written to fit chronologically between the fourth and fifth volumes in the sequence, the series totals eight books and encompasses elements of and references from over two dozen of his previous novels and short stories. The epic novel-turned-film The Stand, for instance, is heavily linked by common characters and themes. Some ideas that may not even been previously apparent in the novel, such as the existence of many parallel strands of existence, have nonetheless have always existed for King somewhere in the reaches of his mind.
Other stories appear in The Dark Tower series as only mild references to characters or ideas from previous stories, so small the reader may not even remember them.
The point of which is basically that unless someone had the time, budget, knowledge, and skill to produce a whole season’s worth of one to two-hour episodes, it would be nearly impossible to do this series justice. And you’d likely end up with a host of pissed off King fans. Like me.
But… for the sake of argument, if they were to make a film adaptation of DT, who would be worthy to play the iconic “spaghetti western” anti-hero, Roland of Gilead? Unfortunately, Clint Eastwood is too old for the role (anyone else notice Roland’s startling resemblance to Mr. Eastwood as depicted on the dust jacket of the final (chronologically speaking) novel of the series?
“I’m the stunt double…”
Anyway, so I came up with three possibilities for the lead role.
Number 3: Karl Urban- He’s got that ruggedly handsome thing down pretty good. Strap a gunbelt to him and he’s good to go.
Karl Urban
I’m kinda undecided on my second and first choice in that I like them both. They’re both ruggedly sexy, good actors, and I could envision either of them as the acerbic and hardboiled Roland of Deschain. The only drawback to any of these three men is that they are in fact well known actors, and may be considered by some as type-cast or locked into certain roles, which may be a hindrance rather than an asset to a film adaptation of DT. But I’ll let you decide.
Number 2- Hugh Jackman- Imagine the Wolverine attitude with…a cowboy hat. He’s buff, tough, and he definitely has the right “air” about him.
“Snickety-snick! My guns are made of adamantium.”
Number 1- Timothy Olyphant-
Comes with his own hat and boots.
Also, as a runner up, especially if you want a little less of a polished, classically handsome choice, I would suggest Michael C. Hall. He’s proven himself a versatile actor and he has a face that is pleasant but not as generic as the standard “Marlboro Man.”
Related articles
- WB passes on Imagine’s ‘Dark Tower’ (variety.com)
- The Dark Tower – Why does it keep falling? (adventureamigos.net)
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