THE DARK TOWER Casts A New Gunslinger And Man In Black For The Amazon TV Series

THE DARK TOWER Casts A New Gunslinger And Man In Black For The Amazon TV Series

The Dark Tower starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey was a critical and commercial flop, but a new version is in the works and the first casting and story details have been revealed. Check it out!

By JoshWilding - Mar 21, 2019 10:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Amazon
Source: Deadline
Ahead of its release, the signs were all pointing to The Dark Tower movie being something very special indeed. It was attempting to do something new with the epic series of Stephen King novels by also seving as a sequel of sorts to the books, but when it finally reached theaters...well, we were all disappointed. 

Now, a new version is in the works courtesy of Amazon Prime and the two lead roles have been cast today. Sam Strike (Nightflyers) will play The Gunslinger, while Jasper Pääkkönen (BlacKkKlansman) is set to play Marten, a.k.a. The Man in Black. 

Completely independent of the movie, Elba will clearly no longer be making an appearance and it's said that we're getting a much more faithful take on the material. In fact, it's being reported that "it will take place many years before the events depicted in the feature and will focus on Roland Deschain's origin story – how he first became a gunslinger and got his guns, his first conflict with the man in black, his first love and his first mission as a gunslinger."
 
While some fans are likely to be disappointed that we're not getting an adaptation of the core story in the books (instead, it sounds like the material featured in flashbacks will be expanded on), this has some potential and already appears to be an improvement.

What do you guys think? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 3/21/2019, 10:16 AM
This probably won't be any better than that horrible movie adaptation from two years ago.

Chewtoy
Chewtoy - 3/21/2019, 10:27 AM
@L0RDbuckethead - What happened to that movie? I've never seen it on any streaming or cable channel. It's like it just fell off the face of the earth after failing at the box office.
L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 3/21/2019, 11:12 AM
@Chewtoy - Lol they buried it because it was an embarrassment to the novels.
mayhem101878
mayhem101878 - 3/21/2019, 8:41 PM
@Chewtoy - I know it's on VUDU at least.I got it as part of a package deal from Regal when if you saw 4 movies you got digital copies of all four.
bennypants
bennypants - 3/21/2019, 10:29 AM
Loved the books. I just wish they would make a straight forward adaptation of the story rather than [frick]ing around with this prequel shit. I know book 4 as primarily set in his youth (and is likely what they are adapting) but still, just gimme the books in order dammit.
Forthas
Forthas - 3/21/2019, 10:31 AM
too close to the movie. They should wait another three years!
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 3/21/2019, 11:27 AM
@Forthas - I don’t see why?
E4Nigma
E4Nigma - 3/21/2019, 10:37 AM
Hopefully the series is good. It should be since Glenn Mazzara (known for The Shield and The Walking Dead Seasons 1-3) is making it. Here's hoping for the best.
MrFloZeke
MrFloZeke - 3/21/2019, 1:26 PM
@E4Nigma - The Walking Dead season 2 & 3; Frank Darabont was the showrunner for the 1st season.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 3/21/2019, 10:39 AM
Should've gotten Javier Bardem and done a straight adaptation of the novels like A Song of Ice and Fire. But Hollywood is gonna muck things up like they always do.
MrFloZeke
MrFloZeke - 3/21/2019, 1:28 PM
@soberchimera - Javier Bardem is not a good pick for Roland; particualrly since the area of Mejis was supposed to be populated by people who were basically Hispanic, and didn't look like the people from Gilead.

Get him in shape and he'd make a great Tick-Tock Man. Or even a creepy-ass Gasher. Hell, he'd be a very menacing Man In Black.
MrDandy
MrDandy - 3/21/2019, 10:43 AM
Jasper Pääkkönen was great in Black Clansman and I think will be a good choice. Not sure about the lead. I haven't seen him in anything, but he looks to have a baby face compared to the Gunslinger in the books who comes off aged and rugged.
Battabing
Battabing - 3/21/2019, 10:44 AM
Seems like this is based mostly on Book 4. I was wondering why they cast so young.
aflynn
aflynn - 3/21/2019, 10:51 AM
Strike was decent in Nightflyers.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 3/21/2019, 10:53 AM
Nowadays it’s kinda smart to adapt stories like this a TV shows where you can have more time to explore/flesh out well as good as possible things from the source material and even change some stuff if you want. This makes me curious so I will try to keep an eye for it.

I just know Pääkkönen from BlacKkKlansman, he was the racist klan member that always suspected of Adam Driver’s infiltrated character.
4thMaster
4thMaster - 3/21/2019, 10:57 AM
Can't say I really care for an origin story, they should have cast older and just straight up adapted the books and use Strykes for the flash-backs.
4thMaster
4thMaster - 3/21/2019, 10:58 AM
@8thDoctor - *Strike
BigDriggs
BigDriggs - 3/21/2019, 11:59 AM
@8thDoctor - they're starting with the 4th book.
4thMaster
4thMaster - 3/21/2019, 12:21 PM
@BigDriggs - Thanks! It's good to know they're following the books. Is Amazon adapting them to tell Roland's story chronologically? I haven't read that far yet, so I have no idea what happens in that one.
BigDriggs
BigDriggs - 3/21/2019, 1:56 PM
@8thDoctor - that's what it seems like so far, and that would explain the younger casting for Roland. I wish they would start from book one, but as long as this turns out good I'll be happy. Book 4, wizard and glass is my favorite of then all anyway.
Capfan82
Capfan82 - 3/21/2019, 11:09 AM
As much as I love Marvel, is how much my wife loves Stephen King. she would probably leave me for his old ass. so that being said, you can imagine how disappointed she was at the movie adaptation of her favorite thing ever in existence. We both realize that Kings stuff has to be tweaked a bit for tv and movies and that's ok. but to completely ignore and to have such little faith in the source material was pretty disgusting. No one believes in slow build up anymore. this should have been at least 3 movies all 3 hours long. it could have been the new lord of the rings. but alas. you give it to a studio and they don't trust that there's enough fans of something so long and weird as the Dark Tower. Sony completely missed the mark on what the point of the whole story was. and that was Family. so much lore ignored and forgotten. such a shame. i hope we get a true adaptation one day down the road in either a trilogy or 4 movies. you need Eddie and Suzanne and Jake and Oy and Callahan and Rowland. You need Blaine the Mono, You need the doors, the Lobstrosities, The Low men, and the Crimson king. Sigh. it could have been something great. ok. im done now.
narrow290
narrow290 - 3/21/2019, 11:14 AM
@Capfan82 - Agree 100!
Capfan82
Capfan82 - 3/21/2019, 11:26 AM
@narrow290 - see? theres two of us sony! oh, and to put the opening line of the entire series in the middle of the movie was the absolute worst thing ever.
narrow290
narrow290 - 3/21/2019, 11:43 AM
@Capfan82 - Hahahahaha!! It was a terrible missed opportunity..What a shit-show!
MrFloZeke
MrFloZeke - 3/21/2019, 1:33 PM
@Capfan82 - At the time that book VII came out, I was 22, and had first read THE GUNSLINGER when I was 11; I had spent literally half of my life at that point reading that book series. Whereas the ending of the series leaves a little something to be desired, the movie was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. I will never believe another word that comes out of Stephen King's mouth about projects adapting his work EVER again.

I hope this series works... and that they get through the "young Roland" stuff quickly so we can get to the real nitty-gritty of the story.
Capfan82
Capfan82 - 3/22/2019, 10:06 AM
@MrFloZeke - I agree with you. I think King just like, doesn't sweat that movie stuff and just is like, "yeah, its good." either just trying to promote it or literally the most humble guy ever. Or maybe he can separate the movies from the books as different things completely. I think if he likes you personally, it doesn't matter how shit your adaptation is, he'll support you. he definitely didn't like Kubrick as a person.
CurlyBill
CurlyBill - 3/21/2019, 11:30 AM
That's a great choice for the man in black but a little to handsome and young for Roland, though it is an origin story so I can forgive them for it.

There is really no point in adapting the Dark Tower if your not going to do it right. I've always felt like the only way to do it is by making it a film/ tv mixture and put it on a streaming service.
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