dark tower | the m0vie blog

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Darren

Stephen King’s Dark Tower Omnibus is an absolutely stunning collection. It might, in terms of production value, be the finest hardcover that Marvel have ever produced in their prestigious omnibus line. Ignoring the issue of content, it’s hard to think of any collection that looks or feels more impressive than this massive slipcase edition, housing two gigantic tomes of King’s iconic lore. One volume reprints the first six story arcs of Marvel’s Dark Tower series, all written by Peter David and stunningly illustrated by Jae Lee. The second book contains all manner of supplementary material – from interviews with the creators, to sketches, to prose pieces and background information on King’s absolutely monumental fantasy epic. While the comic book itself might have some flaws (some serious, some less so), there’s absolutely no faulting the skill and care that went into crafting this deluxe special edition.

A towering accomplishment?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Crimson King, dark tower, Grapefruit, Gunslinger, Jae Lee, king, Maerlyn, Roland, Roland Deschain, Stand, stephen king, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Wizard's Rainbow | 2 Comments »

Blueprint for Success: Is The Dark Tower The Future of Multi-Media Experience?

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Darren

Perhaps it’s down to the fact that movies have always been inherently distrustful of other forms of media (particularly newer modes like television or the internet), as reflected in the constant battle with them (with movies seeking an edge – like 3D – that other media can’t quickly ape) – but I’m surprised that an idea like this hasn’t been tried before. After quite a long period of speculation, it has been confirmed that Stephen King’s The Dark Tower is coming to the big screen. But it’s also coming to the little screen, at the same time. In fact, the not-at-all unambitious plan for the franchise can be laid out as follows:

Step 1: They’ll kick it off with a movie, presumably the movie will tell the story of the first book, The Gunslinger which is a shorter book and extremely cinematic. They could also maybe fit in The Drawing of the Three in which the Gunslinger Roland meets his companions.

Step 2: That movie will be immediately followed by a TV series which will pick up where the movie leaves off. A TV series is the ideal format to tackle some of the longer, more episodic stories.

Step 3: The TV series will then lead into a second feature film.

Step 4: After that second feature film, a TV series will then cover the events of the book Wizard and Glass in which the story of Roland’s youth is retold.

Step 5: That will then launch into a third feature film… perhaps to wrap the story up or maybe simply to take the next step. Whether they end it there or plan more movies and more television presumably depends on audience response.

That’s certainly one heck of a roadmap for a franchise, right there.

Towering ambition...

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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: cross-media, crossover, dark tower, film, Gunslinger Roland, king, lord of the rings, multi-media, multimedia, Roland Deschain, ron howard, stephen king, Television, Television program, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger | 4 Comments »

King of the World: Thoughts on Stephen King and Popular Culture

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Darren

How does Stephen King do it? He manages to churn out an astonishingly prolific back catalogue, but maintains a reasonably high quality. As with all authors, he soars above and he dips below, but – taken on average – he is a very strong writer than manages to churn out up to four books a year. How does the man do it?