Stephen Kings: The Dark Tower (TV series)

[detective392]

Mark Verheiden to Co-Write Dark Tower TV Adaptation

Deadline is reporting that writer Mark Verheiden, currently a showrunner on TNT's Falling Skies, will be co-writing with Akiva goldsman the TV portion of NBC's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower.
This is, of course, the innovation take on King's material that will consist of a film trilogy and a limited series of six episodes of a TV series to be broadcast between films one and two.

Writes Deadline, "This marks Verheiden's return to NBC and UMS following his turn as a supervising producer on Heroes. He also was a writer/co-exec producer on the NBCU series Battlestar Galactica, which ran on Syfy. He most recently served as a co-executive producer of TNT's upcoming sci-fi series Falling Skies, from DreamWorks TV."

For more, follow the link.

Thought we should have a separate thread in the TV forum as they are making a TV series as well as the movies.

http://comicbookmovie.com/fansites/s.../news/?a=35131

[WyldeMan45]

I don't know if I see the point to this. Creating a tv series AND movie franchise at the same time? Won't both be telling the exact same stories but the tv version wouldn't have the same cast I'd imagine. The movies will have Javier Bardem and the tv show will have who, Antonio Banderas?

[detective392]

Originally Posted by WyldeMan45

I don't know if I see the point to this. Creating a tv series AND movie franchise at the same time? Won't both be telling the exact same stories but the tv version wouldn't have the same cast I'd imagine. The movies will have Javier Bardem and the tv show will have who, Antonio Banderas?

The TV show will bridge the gap between the movies. So I'm guessing they will try to get Javier for the series to. Last I heard it's going to go

movie 1, season 1, movie 2, season 2, movie 3

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by WyldeMan45

I don't know if I see the point to this. Creating a tv series AND movie franchise at the same time? Won't both be telling the exact same stories but the tv version wouldn't have the same cast I'd imagine. The movies will have Javier Bardem and the tv show will have who, Antonio Banderas?

The show takes place between the movies. There will be one movie, one season of TV, another movie, another season, and the last movie. Javier Bardem is starring in the show as well. That's why it took so long to get someone because they needed to get an actor who'd be willing to do film and television at the same time.

[HDMe]

The goofy thing to me is... how does that schedule help?

Movies take longer to make usually... so that's why it is 2-3 years between sequels typically... so IF they can find time to film a TV series to bridge the gap... why not film the trilogy in one fell-swoop like Lord of the Rings... and then just space out the theatrical releases like the Rings did... One per year over a 3 year period after spending all the time to finish the whole shebang.

It just seems like they don't gain anything this way.

[Groo The Perverted]

Originally Posted by HDMe

The goofy thing to me is... how does that schedule help?

Movies take longer to make usually... so that's why it is 2-3 years between sequels typically... so IF they can find time to film a TV series to bridge the gap... why not film the trilogy in one fell-swoop like Lord of the Rings... and then just space out the theatrical releases like the Rings did... One per year over a 3 year period after spending all the time to finish the whole shebang.

It just seems like they don't gain anything this way.

Via Ron Howard:

“I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not, but I’m developing with Akiva Goldsman, the guy who wrote A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man, a version of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series of fantasy stories And there is an element of it, if everything goes as planned, that we would like to do on tv. So we want to do part of it big screen, and then a lot of the character stuff — because Stephen King’s stuff is so interesting and fascinating, and instead of trying to wedge it into a movie, let the movies be adventure and action.”

Apparantly the movies will be more of the action/adventure type stuff, and the slower paced character driven stuff would be in the TV series.

I like this idea, as it allows more of the series to be delved into, rather than just cram seven books (and comics, etc) into three movies.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by HDMe

The goofy thing to me is... how does that schedule help?

Movies take longer to make usually... so that's why it is 2-3 years between sequels typically... so IF they can find time to film a TV series to bridge the gap... why not film the trilogy in one fell-swoop like Lord of the Rings... and then just space out the theatrical releases like the Rings did... One per year over a 3 year period after spending all the time to finish the whole shebang.

It just seems like they don't gain anything this way.

The Dark Tower series is really, really complex. The only way to tell it right I think is through a TV series. But I guess what they're doing is the next best thing. There is a ton of material they have to cover to make this work. So they can't just do a trilogy. It'll end up all being filmed at once I think. At least the first movie and season one will be since Howard is directing both. And then I think it will go from there. If this works, its a big step in a new direction for Hollywood.

Originally Posted by Groo The Perverted

Via Ron Howard:



Apparantly the movies will be more of the action/adventure type stuff, and the slower paced character driven stuff would be in the TV series.

I like this idea, as it allows more of the series to be delved into, rather than just cram seven books (and comics, etc) into three movies.

Exactly, and I like that they're doing it this way. I like that. I think Howard gets a lot of undeserved flack. I like his movies and he seems to grasp what a big deal this series is and it seems like he's handling it in the best way possible. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I really don't want to be massively disappointed in this movie and tv series...

[ForEver Blu]

I think this is better suited for a premium cable netork, like HB0 or Starz.



Having Nothing But Clueless involved makes me a bit skeptical.

[Elandyll]

So .. what if the movies draw in an ok business (I hope they do actually very well), but the tv series flop at season 1? No season 2 ergo no filling the gap(s) between movie 2 and 3?

[Jonno2009]

While i would LOVE to see all this happen since I'm a huge fans of the books, this project is just TOO ambitious for it's own good. Maybe I'm just a pessimist but i really don't think this will ACTUALLY be made. I'll believe it when I'm sitting down watching it (in theaters or TV)

Also with today's really fickle TV audience i just don't see the TV series making it more than 1 season.

And plus sometimes movie going audiences and TV audiences aren't the same type of people. So they expect both to converge?

[detective392]

Originally Posted by ForEver Blu

I think this is better suited for a premium cable netork, like HB0 or Starz.



Having Nothing But Clueless involved makes me a bit skeptical.

NBC/Universal are in charge of the TV series so chances are it will end up on NBC but could still go to cable.

Originally Posted by Elandyll

So .. what if the movies draw in an ok business (I hope they do actually very well), but the tv series flop at season 1? No season 2 ergo no filling the gap(s) between movie 2 and 3?

The TV series is only a 6 hour mini series per season and not a full fledged 22+ episode series so I don't think we have to worry about ratings unless they are really bad and tank from the first episode out.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by detective392

NBC/Universal are in charge of the TV series so chances are it will end up on NBC but could still go to cable.

The TV series is only a 6 hour mini series per season and not a full fledged 22+ episode series so I don't think we have to worry about ratings unless they are really bad and tank from the first episode out.

Wow, both of those facts make me think this is just one giant fail waiting to happen.

[kernel_thai]

A. This is a brilliant idea.
B. It is doomed to failure.

The idea of using multimedia for this type of thing is the kind of out of the box stuff that Hollywood needs to do. Unfortunately, I think this is the wrong property to do it with. A lot of long book series could greatly benefit from this treatment. Ive heard similar proposals for Robert Jordan's immense Wheel of Time series.

The problem with Dark Tower is I cant see it drawing the average viewer on either tv or the movies. It's a very complicate story and unfolds so slowly I cant see anyone who hasnt read the books committing to it. Also, if the first movie doesnt do well, why would tv viewers jump into the middle of the thing? This is the kind of strategy that might work with a more well know property. I could have certainly seen this working with Harry Potter for example.

[HDMe]

Only having 6 hours... and splitting that into two 3-hour "bridges" between movies...

That seems awkward to me.

I would much rather see this developed as a maxi-series on TV... Even better on HBO or something where they could fully explore whatever they want without worry about TV censors.

The idea of having movies that continue into a TV show and then back to the next movie... that will likely prove to be too awkward to follow for most folk I suspect.

You can't really make the movies depend on the TV show, because what if people don't watch that and then are confused and angry watching the next movie? So you end up having to make the movies stand alone... and you have to make the TV show stand alone for a similar reason...

It just sounds like a big mess that will not work.

[Walts Ghost]

We can't say it won't work until we see how it plays out. I'm hoping for the best. It's quite ambitious and could potentially lead us to Hollywood doing more things like this in the future. I really want to see this work, so I'm really hoping it works.

[detective392]

Just a small update but it now seems we may only get 1 season of the TV show as most sites are reporting they haven't made any plans yet for a second season like they first discussed.

Based on Stephen King's series of novels, the incredibly ambitious Dark Tower project will involve a feature film trilogy, directed by Ron Howard, with the TV series (airing on NBC) bridging the first and second movie. There had been talk originally of a second season bridging the second and third film, but it's not clear if that will still happen.

http://tv.ign.com/articles/116/1161504p1.html

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by detective392

Just a small update but it now seems we may only get 1 season of the TV show as most sites are reporting they haven't made any plans yet for a second season like they first discussed.



http://tv.ign.com/articles/116/1161504p1.html

That may not be a bad idea. If that's the case, I wonder if the series would be 12 episodes instead of 6, to bridge all the story they're going to want to put into it.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

That may not be a bad idea. If that's the case, I wonder if the series would be 12 episodes instead of 6, to bridge all the story they're going to want to put into it.

Yeah 12 episodes would be ideal I think for something like this. IMO the only way to do this correctly is to have it on cable but it seems like it will be on NBC but hopefully they don't tone it down a lot or release some uncut version on BD/DVD.

[HDMe]

Would I like it to work? Sure...

But the problems...

If someone hasn't seen the movie... they won't watch the TV show. The ratings for the TV show will suffer.... and some of those people might wonder if they should watch the next movie or they might be lost?

So... the movies are going to have to be made in a way that allows you to view the movies whether you see the TV shows or not... which either means recaps of things in the TV series OR they have to pretty much ignore them so that they have no consequences on the movie.

You don't want your movie audience sitting there in movie #2 feeling like they missed a bunch of stuff if they didn't watch the TV show.

That's really the problem... You can make a movie sequel that assumes people watched the previous movie... you can't make a movie that assumes people saw a TV show or read something or saw some Webisodes...

That's why I think it is a mess waiting to happen. I would much rather them make 4 movies or something and explore the characters... than try to have a TV show supplement the story.

Fans of the books will probably watch everything and be fine with it... but the larger movie-going public will be harder to reign into that model.

[kernel_thai]

Originally Posted by HDMe

Would I like it to work? Sure...

But the problems...

If someone hasn't seen the movie... they won't watch the TV show. The ratings for the TV show will suffer.... and some of those people might wonder if they should watch the next movie or they might be lost?

So... the movies are going to have to be made in a way that allows you to view the movies whether you see the TV shows or not... which either means recaps of things in the TV series OR they have to pretty much ignore them so that they have no consequences on the movie.

You don't want your movie audience sitting there in movie #2 feeling like they missed a bunch of stuff if they didn't watch the TV show.

That's really the problem... You can make a movie sequel that assumes people watched the previous movie... you can't make a movie that assumes people saw a TV show or read something or saw some Webisodes...

That's why I think it is a mess waiting to happen. I would much rather them make 4 movies or something and explore the characters... than try to have a TV show supplement the story.

Fans of the books will probably watch everything and be fine with it... but the larger movie-going public will be harder to reign into that model.

I havent read any of this since they came out but my recollection was the first couple books r really slow and most of the action comes towards the end of the series. If this is the way they plan to make it maybe they should start it off with the mini series and then try the movies.