Indiewire.com has brought us the news of some suitable and some very unsuitable casting rumours, and they are incredibly creative rumours at this point, for the lead character of the Dark Tower series called Roland Deschain; the last Gunslinger on a life long journey to reach the mysterious Dark Tower and to save the world.
Those that don’t know about the character of Roland, ideally he needs to be an weathered man of about 40-50 with striking blue eyes and able to look bloody cool with two big irons on his hip, Stephen King compared Roland to ‘the man with no name’ as played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s films. Now having said that, Ron Howard recently spoke freely with the LA Times about who could play Roland and the names mentioned were Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Jon Hamm and Dark Tower fansite Roland of choice, Viggo Mortensen. Although Ron Howard didn’t confirm if they had actually started casting he did say that he doubted the named stars would commit to such a project due to other commitments. A fair point, the Dark Tower would end up being at least 7 years of someone’s career unless they condense the books and choose to ignore parts of the plot, and if it fails to make a financial gain at the boxoffice, the cost of tying one of these A-List actors down for the duration of the franchise would be a financial risk straight away.
This could mean that a lesser known actor could be chosen to fill the gunslingers boots which is slightly worrying as the film will need a big name to get the box office draw it needs to launch the Dark Tower to more than the fans of the books, however Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman would be terrible choices for the role and could never offer enough character to suit Roland’s personality, Viggo would be absolutely perfect but I agree he would unlikely commit to such a large franchise and Jon Hamm is likely to be committed to Madmen for a few more years, but of course these are just rumours but as rumours for castings go, The Dark Tower characters are the ones that interest more than any other film on the horizon.
I’ve just finished reading the Dark Tower series over a three year spell and it is one of the most engaging and incredible stories I’ve ever experienced and I, like many fans, expect the source material to be followed as closely as possible which would mean an adult rating has to be maintained to get the most out of Roland and his Ka-Tet’s adventures through parallel worlds and time travel. The look of the production and casting has to be completely right or instantly the fans will react negatively which is what the adaptation does not need.
Love to hear your thoughts on who you think should be cast, use the comments below.
I’m stuck! I’d have said either Craig, Jackman and Mortensen. I think (don’t laugh) Timothy Olyphant could pull it off. he looks good in a cowboy hat and can play mean moody characters. It’s not going to be easy to cast anybody for this project. It could so easily be screwed up at any stage of the casting process. Get it wrong and the thing won’t work.
Love the idea of Olyphant, maybe not old enough though. If he was 10 years younger he would have made a great Eddie Dean
Definately some interesting names here. Viggo Mortensen would be perfect. Timothy Olyphant is an interesting choice, thinking about both Deadwood and Justified. I also was thinking Keifer Sutherland, maybe.
My apologies I spelled Kiefer wrong above.
I would prefer an unknown to portray Roland, reason being that each reader has a certain idea what Roland looks like. I adore the The Dark Tower series and have read them numerous times. I understand that a well known actor will draw larger crowds but I’m afraid if it’s a popular actor that gets the role then I won’t be able to get into the movie like I did the books. I’m sure other fans will agree with me. So, if we have to do this, I agree that Tim Olyphant would be PERFECT!!!!!
As far as Eddie goes, I think Joe Anderson would be PERFECT!!!
I think Hugh Jackman would be terrible for Roland. I just dont think he could capture what Roland is all about, he always seems a little upity (not sure how that is spelled but I think you get what I’m saying lol) in some of his roles. Even as Wolverine, seemed a little to happy to be Wolverine ya know? I LOVE the idea of Timothy Olyphant, but maybe a little young like Gary was saying. I think a good Eddie Dean would be Josh Holloway, Sawyer from Lost. What do you think?
Josh Holloway would be a very interesting choice, I always saw Roland being a lot taller than Eddie so maybe Josh would be too tall for Eddie?! not sure though, love the idea.
I was watching House recently and thought Jesse Spencer would make a good Eddie Dean. Has to be about 21 right, hope they get it right.