Would it be wrong to say they aren't really wolves, rather they are robots that can be deactivated by shooting the mini-radar dish on their heads? And that Andy the Messenger Robot, along with Benny Slightman's dad, are betraying the Calla to the wolves?

I think it would be okay to say that as long as you didn't say that Eddie dies a couple of books later, then Jake shortly thereafter but it's okay because Susannah joins them again in some alternate world leaving Roland to find and enter the tower all by himself in a typical Steven King hell-of-a-story-teller-but-can't-end-a-book-to-save-his-life ending.

Bitter? Bitter, party of 1, your table is ready in the "haven't been laid in 10 years" section.

WTF are u talking about? Where did you get bitter out of what I said?

Ha! I'd love to see The Wolves of Calla on film, but in terms of the overall storyline it can be removed. Plus, how would they get rights to use the Harry Potter snitches, Dr. Doom (from Marvel/Disney's Fantastic Four) etc. The tie between Wolves and Salem's Lot is pretty badass though! Those tie-INS might not work as well on film. I say they should cut most of Wolves almost all of Song of Sussanah (a completely skippable book aside from a few creepy creature moments, BTW) and cut a lot out of Dark Tower to make up the ending.

I'm finding a lot of people out there on the world wide interwebs share these sentiments. And, I suppose I can understand them.

But, as I said, Wolves is probably my favorite book in the series. Wizard And Glass being a close second. And (I'm probably in the minority here also) I LOVE the meta-fiction of Song. So, I'd be sad to see a lot of that stuff go. But in the interest of steamlining... if they're going cut stuff, that seems like the "right" stuff to cut.

This is why the whole damn thing should be a cable series. Then, you don't really have to cut anything.

That's a good point, but It seems to me like you could have a lot room go different directions with the tone of the Gunslinger. Ron Howard is a bland director most of the time. A big straight forward epic- style Gunslinger sounds boring to me. It rather see a dark Guillermo Del Toro crazy Zombie, Western shoot em' up flick.

I see Drawing of the 3 as a film you could get guy like Howard or Darabont to
shoot as written, but The Gunslinger needs a director with a creative vision, IMO.

Now Wastelands... Now there is a book with a huge amount of ****-up potential. They better hire ZZ top to do the score for that one!

ROFL

That was awesome.

It would be really cool to see each film directed by a different artist. That would have been really fun to see. I don't disagree at all about The Gunslinger film as directed by Howard. But he does seem to have a deep respect for the source material. Maybe this will be the thing that breaks Howard out of his safe-zone. He's got an eye, he's just too safe. Maybe this forces him to take some risks.

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Ron Howard has forgotten the face of his father.

Dark Tower Casting News - Roland Deschain
Posted on: January 27th, 2011 7:44:45 am
Mike Fleming of Deadline Hollywood is reporting that oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem will play Roland Deschain in the upcoming Dark Tower films and television series. For more information, see Deadline Hollywood using the link below.

http://www.stephenking.com/index.html

hmmmm.... great actor, kinda has the look (or will, with the right makeup/outfit). works, I guess.

This is going to be a difficult series to do justice too. I think it's far to dark to even be mentioned on TV and they're bound to cut too much out in the movies. I thought the whole time reading it that it could be a great movie, but sadly I just don't think they will going to deliver.

IMO there are some books that just don't need to be movies.

Ain't It Bale in DARK TOWER news? UPDATED with Bardem news!!!
Published on: Jan 26, 2011 10:17:52 PM CST

... So, amidst some new speculation from our friend Nordling, allow me to add some facts to THE DARK TOWER project—not so much about casting, but not unrelated to it either. Here's what Nordling writes:

Well, according to Deadline, Javier Bardem has been offered the role of Roland. If that's true, while I love Bale's work, Bardem's the man in my opinion. He'll bring that cold nobility to Roland that fans want to see. We'll know for sure in the coming days, and it looks like Bale was indeed in the running, but according to Mike Fleming, the role's Bardem's if he wants it. Stay tuned. I just hope WIZARD AND GLASS is done right.
--Nordling

Okay, this was reported, and I'm not doubting it's truth. That being said, when Ron Howard was in Chicago a couple weeks back promoting THE DILEMMA, we had an off-the-record conversation about THE DARK TOWER project, but it was him asking me most of the questions. And most of the questions were about casting, with very specific names being lobbed at me. I promised Ron I wouldn't reveal our conversation and I'll stick to that agreement. However, some of what he told me in confidence, he has since revealed in other places, so I think that's fair game now. But when the actor playing Roland is revealed once and for all, I'll be happy to detail the parts of our conversation that had to do with casting. But I will say that it was extremely clear to me that Howard had a favorite, because we spent the most time talking about him and Howard went into great detail explaining the why this particular actor would be perfect for the part. A convincing as hell case was made, from my perspective as someone who has read and re-read the Stephen King series several times.

One the record, Howard told me that the names that were being bandied about a few weeks ago (Bardem, Viggo Mortenson) were definitely people whose names were mentioned in meetings about casting. The subtext is that there were other names. At no point did Bale's name pop up in our conversation, on or off the record. Doesn't mean he wasn't a part of the discussion in casting meetings; he just wasn't brought up with me.

.... I believe it is Howard's intention to direct all three of THE DARK TOWER features, most certainly the first and second ones. In between the first and second film, will be a six- or seven-episode miniseries that will bridge the two features. I believe Howard plans on directing at least a couple of these episodes and closely overseeing the remaining parts (kind of the way Frank Darabont ran the show for "The Walking Dead"). Don't assume the movies and TV series to break where the books break, which would be impossible since there are seven books and only five sections to this project.

That being said, the television component between the second and third feature will be a full-length series (not sure if that means 12-13 episodes as cable tends to do, or a full 22-23 episodes on network, presumably NBC, although I wouldn't count that as a given). It's my understanding that this longer television section will basically cover the entirety of the flashback story of "Wizard & Glass" (the fourth DT book)...

... The scripts are still being written, but I think Howard, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and a team that Howard referred to as his DARK TOWER task force, which I'm told includes Robin Furth, King's personal research assistant and co-creator of "The Dark Tower" comic books and "The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance, Volumes I & II," are on the right path. I certainly trust Furth to keep things honest....

-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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complete article here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48241

Just to update the January rumors, story is out tonight that Javier Bardem is official.