My prayers to the Man Jesus have been heard. Now let’s hope they are answered.
As a huge fan of both Breaking Bad (so brilliant) and Stephen King’s Dark Tower series (probably the best story he’s ever told), I’ve been steadily tracking the process of – and obstacles facing – the ongoing adaptation of the multi-part literary franchise. Ron Howard has been involved with the project in assorted stages, and it seems he took a series of meetings with an ideal actor for Eddie Dean – Aaron Paul, bitches!
We’ve heard this before. But Paul was in Sundance recently promoting a new film, and was asked by Ain’t It Cool News about the Dark Tower books and whether he’d ever been considered for Dean. The character is a strung-out junkie pulled into a mystical realm by the story’s main hero, Roland, a gunslinger. Dean becomes a hero, despite his numerous flaws. Sounds a lot like Jessie, no? Anyway, Paul says that he hasn’t read all of the books (there are seven), but dropped this huge bomb:
I've had a ton of meetings on that. I just had a general sit down with Ron Howard, who is a huge fan of the show, which is such a crazy thing to even think that Ron Howard even knows who I am. They're definitely planning on making it. … I'm excited. Their goal is to do three films, but also have a television element to it, which will be very interesting. From what I hear, Eddie Dean is a pretty epic, iconic character.
Uh, yeah. They’re ALL iconic to those of us who’ve consumed the sprawling Dark Tower series. And while Paul stops short of confirming anything, the fact that he has taken "a ton of meetings" means wheels must be turning.
The way he talks about the TV-movie component of the story means he might still be referring to the plan to stretch the story over various mediums, which I don’t think ever got off the ground. Warner Bros. passed on it, no doubt due to the expected costs to tell the story correctly. Universal passed on it years ago.
But we’re in a different time now, a time where Netflix and HBO are viable sidebars that can carry longer chunks of a storyline, with audiences heading to theaters to see parts of the story. Hell, if Peter Jackson can squeeze three 3-hour Hobbit movies out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s slim novel, then Hollywood can figure out how to bring The Dark Tower to life!!
Cast Paul as Eddie Dean. Hire Javier Bardem as Roland, and Lupita Nyong’o as Odetta. Give the Jake role to Iron Man 3 standout Ty Simpkins. And Joe King can play the younger version of his father. Seriously, look at this!
