When MTV spoke to Howard during the press day for his comedy "The Dilemma," he talked a bit about his plans for "The Dark Tower" series and how involved he will be.
"Right now what we're talking about is a movie and six or eight hours of television to bridge. My plan is to do most of those TV hours, if not all, and certainly the movies." And, in case you thought the roles of the main characters would be recast for the TV series, Howard confirmed that the actors from the films will indeed reprise their roles on the small screen.
From an interview with Ron Howard published today (don't really know when it was done though): How are things progressing with The Dark Tower?
"I'm working on it. We don't know if it's a 'go' but it is picking up a lot of momentum and a lot of creative momentum. I've had fantastic conversations with Stephen King. Akiva Goldsman, who wrote A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man and Da Vinci Code, is on it as a writer and also a producer and brought the project to me. We're already gathering this interesting team of people who love these genres - fantasy and horror. For me it's creatively very exciting. The possibilities are rich."
If this interview is done recently the fact that Howard says he don't know if it's a 'go' speaks against that we'll know in a week who'll play Roland...
I just found out that author Rocky Wood has a new book about King's work released in March. It's called Stephen King: A Literary Companion and it sounds really interesting. This companion provides a two-part introduction to best-selling author Stephen King, whose enormous popularity over the years has gained him an audience well beyond readers of horror fiction, the genre with which is most often associated. Part I considers the reception of King’s work, the film adaptations that they gave rise to, the fictional worlds in which some of his novels are set, and the more useful approaches to King’s varied corpus. Part II consists of entries for each series, novel, story, screenplay and even poem, including works never published or produced, as well as characters and settings.
Comic Book Movie Fansite had an interesting article about the casting of The Dark Tower today. Apparently MTV caught up with producer Brian Grazer who had the following to say:
"...when we asked if he'd talked to the two actors about the part, he simply laughed and responded, 'Sure.' Grazer did say, however, that a casting announcement is imminent. How imminent? 'Within a week,' he said. Seriously? 'Seriously. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously,' he assured us before asking, 'Who do you want?' Honestly, we'll take either of them. 'OK, great,' Grazer concluded."
This sounds a bit early but stranger things have happened. Personally I was hoping for an unknown actor but if it is down to Javier Bardem and Viggo Mortensen I'm hoping for Bardem.
Ron Howard recently spoke to Howard Stern about The Dark Tower and told him that the television portion of the adaptation”is really a six hour special”. Read more about the interview here.
Ron Howard briefly mentioned his work on The Dark Tower movies at the end of his Today Show appearance promoting B>The Dilemma today. Check it out here
It's great to hear him speak about it even if he just mentions it briefly.
Mark L. Lester recently talked about Firestarter:
On Firestarter:
“Originally John Carpenter was gonna direct that,” Lester reveals. “There was a script that was written, I forget who wrote it. Then the budget was way out of line, like $15 million. And the script had no relationship to the book whatsoever. They didn’t want to shoot it for that amount of money so Dino de Laurentiis came to me and said, ‘I read the book. Can you make a treatment out of this?’ So I brought in Stanley Mann, who I knew, and when we wrote the treatment, we styled [it after] the book exactly scene for scene. We gave it Dino De Laurentiis, and he said, ‘Well this just follows the book exactly…’ Well, yeah, of course! You paid a million dollars for the book, I said, ‘Why aren’t you following the book? That’s why this thing can’t get made yet. We’ll just shoot the book.’ And he says, ‘Okaaaaay…’ So within three weeks the script was written, and we had a green light from Universal to make the film just off the script, which was identical to the book.”
Lester confirms that Firestarter has been his most difficult film to date. “That was all practical [effects]. The fireballs you see ... that’s not CGI. Back then, we actually created fireballs that could fly through the air – they were on a wire and could crash into buildings. We had people on fire that were on trampolines that had to flip through the air. It was very dangerous. All the effects were done right on the set – it was a pretty intense thing to do then…” Lester also notes that the film’s epic “farm attack” scene took an entire week to film.
This rumor from The New York Post was reported earlier today:
The New York Post has the rumor, stating quite simply and without attribution: "'Pirates of the Caribbean' beauty Naomie Harris is being considered for the female lead in the Ron Howard's eagerly anticipated 'Dark Tower' trilogy." Without any official confirmation, let's treat Harris' involvement as a rumor for now — but it's certainly a rumor we're excited about.
Looks like two men are the top contenders for playing Roland in the upcoming filmversion...
Ron Howard's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" has set off a casting frenzy in Hollywood. Agents are tripping over themselves to land their clients coveted roles in what promises to be a blockbuster film and television franchise. Leading the pack for the principal character, Roland Deschain, is Javier Bardem, with Viggo Mortensen a close second, sources tell us. Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have a deal with Universal that will translate into a TV show and three movies, all using the same cast. Brian Grazer will produce with Goldsman and King. According to reports, they plan to start with an epic movie, then continue the story with the TV series, followed by a second film, and then a second TV season showing gunslinger Deschain as a young man. Then, the third movie will end the saga with Deschain as an older man.
After seven years King has written his last column for Entertainment Weekly. This has been confirmed by the moderator of his message board.
Sorry, it's true. He's done it for quite a few years now and had wanted to stop a year or so ago but they talked him into staying a little longer.
Here is a wonderful review of my book by author Wayne C. Rogers.
There are still copies available from several stores if you're interested in getting a copy. And if you want it signed, that can be arranged as well. You'll have to pay postage to Sweden though.
Here is an very interesting article about the upcoming Dark Tower adaptation. It mentiones some possible names and also confirms that the plan is movies #1, a TV season, movie #2, a second TV season and then the third movie.
Here is an update on the upcoming Dark Tower movies from Bloody Disgusting.
Deadline caught up with Rob Howard, who is set to direct the first of three Steven King The Dark Tower adaptations, which will arrive in theaters May 17, 2013 from Universal Pictures. They write that they plan to turn King's masterwork into a film trilogy with a network TV series programmed between films. Howard will direct the first film and the limited run series that will create a bridge to the second feature. "It is going well, and it has been incredibly stimulating to work on," Howard said. "It's dense, a great author's life work is not to be taken lightly. It has been utterly fascinating to explore it, and we are having great creative conversations. I've begun tossing and turning at 3 in the morning over it, so that's a good sign." The books chronicle the mysterious The Gunslinger as he travels across a desolate and vaguely post-apocalyptic landscape in his quest for a black tower. Portals along the way eventually allow contact with our own modern world.
More remakes...
Universal is looking to reignite the "Firestarter" flame.
The studio and Dino De Laurentiis Co. have teamed to reboot the 1984 horror pic, with Mark L. Smith onboard to pen the script.
Although there were no sequels to the original feature, based on the Stephen King tome, the studio aims to turn the reboot into a franchise property.
The 1984 pic starred Drew Barrymore as a girl able to start fires at will. It grossed $17 million at the domestic B.O. and was also produced through U and De Laurentiis' Co.
Plot details for the reboot are being kept under wraps. It's expected to be loosely based on the original King book, but the main character is to be reinvented with a little more edge.
De Laurentiis Co. chairman Martha De Laurentiis and prexy of production Lorenzo De Maio will produce through the De Laurentiis Co. along with Steven Schneider through his Room 101 banner.
"We see this as a unique, character-driven thriller with a supernatural edge, based on a timeless concept and enhanced by recent visual effects advances," Martha De Laurentiis said.
Deal for "Firestarter" extends the longstanding relationship between U and De Laurentiis Co. The reboot was among the last projects the prolific Dino De Laurentiis worked on before his death in November at age 91.
"'Firestarter' has a great mythology and with Martha and Lorenzo's vision we believe the franchise can be extended in a new and exciting direction," said Debbie Liebling, U's prexy of production.
De Laurentiis Co. has a slew of projects in various stages of development, including a reboot of the cult classic "Barbarella," a remake of another King adaptation, "Maximum Overdrive" and a new spin on 1980s TV actioner "MacGyver."
Smith is now working on the "Firestarter" script. U hopes to get the pic into production next year, but has yet to take the project out to directors.
Besides the 1984 pic, cabler Syfy fielded a telepic in 2002 dubbed "Firestarter 2: Rekindled."
It looks like we'll get a remake of King's Maximum Overdrive in the not to distance future. Dread Central had this report today: Maximum Overdrive Remake Wheels Starting to Spin
Dino De Laurentiis Co. Maximum Overdrive Remakes Stephen King
The year was 1986 and the directorial debut of horror icon Stephen King roared off of the big screen like a big bloody fun behemoth. The AC/DC soundtrack kicked ass, the Green Goblin's head has never been the same, and to this very day we refuse to look at any appliance the same way ever again.
Can a remake of this cult classic capture the same kind of magic? Who knows, but according to Variety Dino De Laurentiis Co. has one waiting in the wings.
The original film focused on what happened when the earth passed through the tail of a mysterious comet and the machines on Earth suddenly came to life and terrorize their human creators.
The original film focused on what happened when the earth passed through the tail of a mysterious comet and the machines on Earth suddenly came to life and terrorize their human creators.
In terms of news regarding this upcoming remake, that's really all there is at the moment. Don't worry though, we'll keep our ears to the ground and if those big-ass semi's start rolling you'll be the first to know about it.
For those of you who missed King’s live chat yesterday, here is a recording of it. For now though it looks like it’s been made private…don’t know why that is but hopefully it will change soon.
Uncle Creepy reports that more children is needed in the corn.
The Hollywood Insider reported on a rumor (later confirmed by our bros at Moviehole) that Children of the Corn: The Dweller needed more ‘Children of the Corn’ so there’s a prologue being filmed, set in Nebraska, with more of them creepy kids we've grown to want to just punch in the face.
Synopsis
TIM and ALLIE are heading out of LA and into the very warm California desert environs to see TIM's father. The car overheats and they are forced to stay overnight at the home of a questionable couple and their young child...
Head over to Dread Central to read the entire article.
It was just posted on King's official site that he will be participating in a live UStream chat on December 8th at 7:00pm Est.
A Conversation with Stephen King
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM ET
Join bestselling author Stephen King in a live chat about his new book, FULL DARK, NO STARS. Tune in Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 - 7pm EST/4pm PST. RSVP to the event and join it live here: http://www.ustream.tv/simonandschuster.
If you have a question you would like Stephen King to answer during the chat, please send it to: scribner.books@simonandschuster.com
Its contest time again here at Lilja’s Library. This time it’s 5 copies of the US edition of Full Dark, No Stars that’s up for grabs. However, the contest will be a bit different this time…
For the next 5 days (Monday Nov. 28 – December 3rd) I will post a link here at the top of the site. The link will be named Contest Monday (the name of the day will change for each day) and when you see this link, all you need to do is click on it and send me that email that opens. You can add a comment if you like but that is not a must. Sounds too easy? Well, it is. There are two more things:
1) The link may appear any time between midnight and midnight the day after and will only be on the site for a short time, somewhere between 2 and 4 hours.
2) You will have to be the 10th person that sends me an email that day. I will count them in the order I receive them. The 10th mailer each day will be the winner.
Sounds like fun? Well, I hope so. And keep an eye here; the first link will appear within 24 hours and remember that you can keep an eye on the site with you phone as well…
Contest Monday (contest for Monday is over. Winner is Will Efson). Contest Tuseday (contest for Tuseday is over. Winner is Fran Anderson). Contest Wednesday (contest for Wednesday is over. Winner is Wendy Lang). Contest Thursday (contest for Thursday is over. Winner is Vicky Sing). Contest Friday (contest for Friday is over. Winner is Laurence Willson).
That ends this contest. Thanks to everyone that juined in.
Today a lot of people access the Internet through mobile phones, right? So, hopefully a lot of you are accessing Lilja’s Library through your phones and as you probably know not all sites work perfectly on a phone. So, because of that there is now a mobile phone version of Lilja’s Library. Most of it looks like when you enter the regular site but it’s been optimized for phones and that means that it’s been a bit trimmed down. Hopefully you’ll all find what you need though and hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as the regular site.
Oh, and if you use a smart phone there is also an icon for you if you want an easy way to access the site from your phone. Please check it out and let me know what you think about it through mail, on facebook or on twitter.
And the best thing is that you don’t have to remember a new address, just surf in to www.Liljas-Library.com with our phone and you’ll be directed to the mobile version of the site.
Thanks to Anders Jakobson for all his help with this.
In a new interview John Mellecamp had this to say about his collaboration with King:
Q: What's the status of this multimedia collaboration between you and author Stephen King, "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County?"
A: We've made a recording of all the songs, including ones sung by Kris Kristofferson, who plays the father; Elvis Costello, who plays the Devil; Rosanne Cash, who's the mother, and Sheryl Crow, who plays a ghost. They sang all the songs and T Bone produced the music.
It's the "Sgt. Pepper's" of Americana music. We did the dialogue and that includes Meg Ryan and Matthew McConaughey. We're putting it all together and are trying to get this staged in Atlanta during the spring or fall of next year. Liv Ullman, who was Ingmar Bergman's muse, will be directing. ...
This is a hell of an undertaking; just getting everybody together to read and sing is like putting kitties in a bag. Steve and I started working on it 10 years ago.
Tomorrow is the release day for Full Dark, No Stars but already people are reporting finding it in book stores. The last trailer, the one for my personal favorite in the collection A Good Marriage has been released (the male lead is actually played by the Swedish actor Tomas Norström) and here you can read my review of the book.
I just wanted to let you know that I have signed a bunch of books that are now on sale over at VeryFineBooks.com. I signed these exclusively for this bookshop and as far as signed books these are the only ones that you can buy at the moment.
Veryfinebooks has also agreed to includes free shipping (within the US) and a 30 day money back guarantee (don’t know why you would want to return it though :-) ).