Details on How THE DARK TOWER Film Came Together, Why Idris Elba Was Cast as The Gunslinger and TV Series Plans
When it comes to the upcoming big screen adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, I'm beside myself with excitement. I'm constantly giving myself high-fives whenever a see a new piece of news regarding the project.
Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer tried to get this film project off the ground for ten years. Sony Pictures eventually gave the project their support, and right at this moment the film is in production being directed by Nikolaj Arcel. I wish Howard would have been the one to take it on, but I still think the movie is going to turn out great because at least he's helping steer it in the right direction.
Howard and Grazer recently sat down for an interview with Deadline in which they offer up details behind bringing this story to the big screen. The long journey started when J.J. Abrams dropped out of adapting the book series. At that point, Howard, Grazer, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman jumped in and grabbed the rights. Howard explains their plan for bringing the story to life:
"Akiva Goldsman first pitched it to me while we were making A Beautiful Mind and the rights weren’t available. JJ Abrams was working on it at first and then Akiva told me JJ was involved in so many projects he let it go. We started talking about what it could be. I read all the novels and we broke them down. He presented this idea to Stephen King, and this is insider material you might not get, but it was about introducing the Horn of Eld into the very first story. He knew it would allow us to use elements of the novels in a new combination that would give us the latitude to be true to the essence of the novels, but also re-balance and refocus the narrative in a cinematic way. That was the jumping off point that began this process. When MRC [Media Rights Capital] and Modi Wiczyk became involved, that discussion deepened and we focused more on the Jake Chambers-Roland relationship at the very center of the first movie as a way of launching the universe. We simplified the story line, made it less expensive as a result, but we still utilized a lot of those important structural adjustments that Akiva and I had devised going back years ago. One of the things we did was put together a team of Dark Tower researchers, devotees of the books. We wanted to restructure the novels to be most cinematic and Stephen King agreed completely and understood the journey we were on immediately and supported it. We used this group to inspire our thinking and stay in the universe of Dark Tower."
From what we've heard of the new film, it seems like they stuck with that plan of restructuring the novels to fit a cinematic experience. It's good to know that King himself backs that idea. I like the fact they are doing that because it will keep fans of the book series guessing as to what will happen. After years of trying to get the film off the ground, Howard says they were about to give up until Arcel jumped on board. He really liked what the filmmaker could bring to the table.
"Just about the time Akiva, Modi, Brian and I we were going to give up, Tom Rothman at Sony came aboard and that was an important turning point and that led to Nik. He grew up on the books and always loved them. He really was a great choice to approach the story in the most humanistic and cool way, focusing a lot on the Jake-Roland relationship. He understood the importance of that and connected with both characters. He’s also a strong original filmmaker with great taste. He and his writing partner tackled a rewrite and Nic has done a terrific job staging it."
Hearing that definitely raises my confidence level in Arcel, who has directed a handful of films I haven't seen. Howard goes on to talk about the casting of The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain and why they ended up casting Idris Elba:
"Back then, we came close to making it with Javier Bardem at one point. I’ve always felt that the essence of Roland was not necessarily the carbon copy of Clint Eastwood, even though that was what they used as the model on a lot of the book covers. The existential Western hero, played by Clint in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Hang ‘em High and those Sergio Leone Westerns, that was what inspired young Stephen King to begin with. But I never felt it was necessarily a look as much as an essence. So did Stephen. In this iteration, when we began thinking about candidates, Idris just felt like a really exciting and dynamic possibility. Idris brings this crucial combination of coiled danger, quiet charisma, undercurrents of complexity and nobility, and a kind of timeless cool. These are the elemental qualities of Roland, in my mind, and I think Idris carries it incredibly well. Then there is McConaughey. I had always thought he would be a tremendous Walter."
I think Elba and McConaughey are going to be ridiculously awesome in this movie! I really hope that we get to see Howard and Grazer's vision of the adaptation fully realized. If you've been following the news, then you know there is a TV series that is supposed to bridge the gap between three films. When asked if the TV series was still happening, Howard said:
"We’re developing the television part, now. We don’t know what platform it will be on at this point, but we’re developing the content in hopes for more movies that will cover the epic and the characters involved."
The Dark Tower opens on February 17th, 2017.