Speaking with
Entertainment Weekly, horror and science fiction author Stephen King, talked about the recently announced film trilogy and a TV series of his popular seven-novel series
The Dark Tower.
He was asked about the casting, the general idea of making this series into a movie and what will a TV series look like.
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The Dark Tower is such a dense series — did you always think it needed more than a single movie or TV show treatment?
"I always thought it would take more than a single movie, but I didn’t see this solution coming — i.e., several movies and TV series. It was Ron [Howard] and Akiva [Goldsman]‘s idea. Once it was raised, I thought at once it was the solution."
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In a perfect world, who would play Roland? Eddie? Susannah? Jake?
"The Twilight cast, of course! Just kidding. I haven’t got as far as casting in my thoughts, but when I write about Susannah Dean, I always kind of see Angela Bassett in my mind’s eye. Mostly I just want good people in those parts. Ron Howard will find them, I’m sure."
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What about Ron Howard and NBC makes them a good fit for the franchise?
"When working as a director, Ron is very similar to the way I work as a writer. We both tell honest stories that have (I flatter myself) style and substance but not a lot of show-offy frills."
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And who would you want to play?
"I’d love to be the voice of Blaine the Mono."
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There’s a lot of blood in the series — how much is the TV series going to be censored? It likely would have been easier to join forces with a network without restrictions, à la HBO, no?
"I don’t see that as a problem at all! We’ll have just enough latitude to make a great series. I’ve worked in network TV before, and every time I was squeezed a little, it just made me look for creative solutions. Besides, I always like to play in the biggest auditorium available!"
Wolvie: So, what are your thoughts about this upcoming film trilogy and a planned TV show? Are you looking forward to it? Put your comments below...