The Dark Tower Movie Adaptation

Idris Elba will be The Gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey the Man in Black. Thoughts?

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/29/dark-tower-rises-stephen-king-idris-elba-an...

I don't specifically have a problem with a black man playing Roland, but I am concerned about how the dynamic between him and Susannah will work, as there's a lot of, shall we say racial banter between them in the books. Elba and McConaughey are both superb actors, and King himself is happy with the casting, so I'm more than ready to trust them.

It will be very interesting to see how the whole thing is approached. I suspect a lot of people will be unhappy as the movies will be a lot different to the books, similar to Game Of Thrones / A Song Of Ice And Fire. I think that's going to be difficult to reconcile but I think we need to go into it with open minds and appreciate it for what it is.

It's going to be interesting if nothing else, and I for one will be booking my ticket as soon as I can!

What do people think about casting the other parts? There's a lot of support for Aaron Paul as Eddie and I'd like to see that, as long as he doesn't just call everyone 'bitch' all the time :-) And there's an interesting suggestion in the comments to that article that Joe Hill could play the character of Stephen King.

This concerns me ==> http://www.projectcasting.com/casting-calls-acting-auditions/dark-tower-open-cas...

Sounds as though they may be replacing Jake with Jack from The Talisman / Black House.

>2 BuffaloPhil: I agree that an open mind is called for. It will be interesting to see how they adapt the books. I hope they do make changes. It's a different medium and many years since the books were published, and I'm more interested in seeing a unique interpretation than something that adheres exactly to the text. Film often needs to distill the story to its essence so I'll be interested to see what gets cut.

My main issue: starting somewhere in the middle of the series.

I have to say, I would shed no tears if they cut out the whole part of King writing himself into the story. I didn't like it in the books and don't think I'd like it in the movie.

I don't have that much concern about the racial dynamic between Roland and Susannah. I think that tension could be developed between Susannah and Eddie if the film makers decide to go there. Like you, I am optimistic about the film, but recognize that it is going to differ greatly from the novels.

It was always going to differ greatly from the novels though, just because of the scope of the series, and my hope is that they can make one quality movie and then build on that. If they make one film that is doggedly true to the series, but critics don't care for it and people don't go watch it, this is going to be a disappointingly incomplete enterprise anyway.