Game Set in Stephen King's Dark Tower to Complement Movie/TV Show

[Greg Tito]

Game Set in Stephen King's Dark Tower to Complement Movie/TV Show

Hollywood sources report that a strong "game component" figures prominently in strategy for adapting Stephen King's gunslinging fantasy series.

It is expected for any large budget movie to have a videogame tie-in associated with it, especially if the possible film in question contains a lot of fantasy genre fighting and shooting like Ron Howard was linked to adapting [http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tower-Boxed-Set-Books/dp/0451211243/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278524345&sr=1-1] the sprawling 7 book series (with an 8th on the way) that Stephen King's been working on since 1982, we were pretty sure that the story would have to be told over several different media. So far, a feature film and an hour long TV show have been discussed with a possible release date in 2013, but according to a source close to the project, director Howard will also use a videogame to fill in some of the holes in the plot.

"There's also a very ambitious game component being planned that will further utilize elements from the books," the source said. He went on to detail how the negotiations for aligning all of these elements has been progressing:

"There are genuine plans for a May 13th, 2013, release theatrical, with T.V. hours to follow. There is no green light in place yet, as the scripts are not done, which means the budgets are not done, but Universal is giving very strong support," said the source.

That's not a ton of information there, but it's just enough for us to begin speculating. Will the videogame work like Tron: Evolution where important elements of the story of the film are brought to light, but in new ways? Or will the game follow a small subplot of the novels that won't get significant screen time either in the film(s) or the TV show?

Either way, this news may just get me to bump The Dark Tower [http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tower-Boxed-Set-Books/dp/0451211243/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278524345&sr=1-1] to the top of my to-read list.

Source: Ain't It Cool News [http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48244]



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[Jharry5]

I have to admit, I'm slightly torn here; the settings in the book would make for some great gameplay (if it was done correctly, of course). But, with the books being one of my favourites ever, I don't know if I'd want it to be made.
I don't remember thinking whilst reading them that the books needed to be turned into films/tv series/games. In fact, I came to the opposite conclusion...

 

[Therumancer]

As a warning of sorts, Steven King more or less uses "The Dark Tower" to tie his entire body of work (or the vast majority of it) into a single continuity. To really, fully "get it" you need to be a huge Steven King fan and read a ton of his stuff. Certain books like "The Talisman" and "The Black House" (co-written with Peter Straub) also fit into it rather signifigantly as side stories that have some impact. If you read a lot of his work as well you'll notice that there are recurring characters and themes through a lot of the differant worlds like "Randall Flag" who shows up in a few books as an enemy, as well as in "The Dark Tower" series. "Tales From A Buick 8" has a faux car that is the centerpiece of the story which is something you'll recognize as having appeared/been mentioned elsewhere in his writings, etc...

I wish them luck with this plan, but really I don't think it's a series that could have justice done to it because what works in writing isn't nessicarly going to work all that well in other media. A lot of Steven King's appeal is also based around his characterization, and while I think he's been getting out of touch with people in his older years due to the way the world is changing, it's very difficult to get into the head of like 40 differant people in a movie, which is why I think a lot of his film adaptions have been lacking.

I have a lot of respect for Ron Howard, but to be honest I don't think even he could pull this one off, and do justice to the sheer depth of material/the universe. If he somehow manages to do it, then he deserves to be lauded as the best Director of all time, in the end though I'm one of those people that think it can't be done, and by trying your simply inviting a massive fan uprising of ridiculous proportions.

 

[Dectilon]

A game 'complement'. Yay...

 

[dibblywibbles]

if it can be pulled off this would be an incredible series... but I find it would be next to impossible to do so. I don't care about a game for the very simple reason there's only been one good movie game adaptation(spider man 2) that i've played. I'm way more into the fact that someone has the balls to try to put this series of books on film. I wish them luck but really... too much will be cut to make this worthwhile. Beware the dandelo!

 

[Volucer]

Hmmmm. On the one hand The Dark Tower series is my favourite set of books and I love every little thing that adds to the world of the books. On the other, I feel as though by expanding it into a game/film/tv series that the awesomeness is liable to be diluted.

 

[HappyDD]

I have to admit, I'm slightly torn here; the settings in the book would make for some great gameplay (if it was done correctly, of course). But, with the books being one of my favourites ever, I don't know if I'd want it to be made.
I don't remember thinking whilst reading them that the books needed to be turned into films/tv series/games. In fact, I came to the opposite conclusion...

Agreed, there are many parts in the books (like almost all books) that are only done justice by the medium. If you were to put, say, the concept of todash from these novels into a game or movie it immediately changes what people thought it was like. Sure, I'd love a good Gunslinger game, but I would hate a bad Gunslinger game just for existing.

 

[coldfrog]

Spoiler

Not sure what type of game they're thinking of making, but signs point to a prominent "New Game+" feature to be included.

I'd love to see Stephen King work on this in a fashion similar to the way the Hitchhiker's Guide media was done - make the movie and game deviate a bit from the books. Then again, hasn't every movie adaptation he's been involved in been pretty bad?

Anyway. I'm hesitantly optimistic about this. Seems to be my catchphrase lately. I hope it's good.

 

[RJ Dalton]

No. Just no. There's no way a story as intricate and complex as the Dark Tower series can be summed up in a series of two-three hour movies. It will not work.