36 Facts On The Dark Tower: Enjoy Watching This Action Film

The literature industry and cinema are no longer two individual communities; today they work together to bring out the best gems.

Many authors aim to write a novel so extraordinary that it ends up being a film. Such is the story of almost every Stephen King novel.

Stephen King is a well-known celebrity author, who is known for his amazing writing. While he is a literature enthusiast himself, he is also an exceptional writer. Most novels by Stephen King have been made into movies. While it's fun to read his dark tragedy or horror-associated books, the movies also spark a different kind of joy altogether. One such incredible series of books, which is impossible to forget is 'The Dark Tower' series, otherwise known as 'The Dark Tower' saga.

'The Dark Tower' is an amalgam of some Stephen King novels and also some short stories written by him. Stephen King is known to incorporate many themes in his work. Ranging from dark academia to science fantasy, King is known to play with all. A specialty of this author is how he narrates every bit of his book and creates a multiverse within the storyline. 'The Dark Tower' series and 'The Dark Tower' movie continue to follow the same storylines. 'The Dark Tower' movie focuses more on the plot as a whole, whereas the book is a little more detailed and gives us a tour of his multi-verse.

Interestingly, this book is interconnected with other books written by King. Simply put, 'The Dark Tower' is the connecting piece between many other stories he has written. This book is exceptionally long, or at least, comparatively longer than other books by King. The total page count of the novel series is 4,250. The reason why the book is so vast is that many characters from other books written by the author are shown in the series and explored in further detail. These characters are found to be connected to stories and incidents which are relevant to the series 'The Dark Tower'.

Actors & Characters In 'The Dark Tower'

Following the worldwide craze for the award-worthy books of 'The Dark Tower' series, talents across the globe decided to make a film out of it. To say the least, the film was a big success and an epitome of fine work and an even finer storyline.

In order to make the book into a film, some parts of the book needed re-writing. To help with that, Nikolaj Arcel came into play. He is also the director of the film.

The character of Crimson King is very beautifully shown in the movie. However, Stephen King wrote Crimson King with more added details.

The plot of 'The Dark Tower' movie is similar to that of the book, with a few differences. In the movie, Jake Chambers is shown to have the same nightmares, but with a little less detail.

The plot starts running at its full pace when Jake Chambers starts having nightmares in which he sees a tower falling to ruins.

Nikolaj Arcel and Ron Howard added a few extra elements and scenes, which according to Ron Howard, were necessary to give the film a much required dimension.

As the plot of the movie continues, Jake Chambers, played by Tom Taylor, finds himself in a dilemma, since his dreams and visions are seen as nothing but the result of a past trauma he experienced.

'The Dark Tower', which he sees in his dream, is associated with the death of his father, according to his psychiatrists.

Many believe that Tom Taylor, who is the face behind the character Jake Chambers, did a fine job of portraying the intensity of the role.

The story gets even more interesting when, in New York, Jake Chambers finds a group of people coming to his house offering him rehabilitation.

In the film, monsters are portrayed as beings that have supernatural powers and can wear human skin. The audience loved seeing Matthew McConaughey in the role of one such monster.

Matthew McConaughey did this role justice and finely delivered the role of a creepy villain in 'The Dark Tower' movie.

The book, 'The Dark Tower' is connected to many other books by King. We see many previously known characters in the film, one of which is Roland Deschain.

The role of Roland Deschain in the movie is a work of art. 'The Dark Tower' is seen or is symbolic of the life of Roland Deschain.

The main protagonist of the film, Jake, soon has an encounter with Roland Deschain, played by Idris Elba.

Idris Elba is famously known as the gunslinger. He appears in Jake's dream multiple times as the gunslinger of the castle rock.

Stephen King has very artistically drawn a string between a dark academia theme and some sci-fi elements. This can be seen in the movie, when we see a portal in Jake's room, which leads him to a post-apocalyptic world.

Other notable characters in the movie are Lucas Hanson. Nicholas Hamilton plays the role of Lucas.

Even the supporting characters of the movie were seen as important roles. For example, Jackie Earle Haley was known for his unsettling acting and engaging role in the movie.

The movie is also known to be one of the best performances of actors such as Idris Elba and Jackie Earle Haley.

However, Idris Elba was not the first choice for his role. Before Elba, stars such as Daniel Craig and Christian Bale were considered for the role.

A beautiful and interesting fact about the whole 'Dark Tower' series is how it's the result of King's fertile imagination. In many of his interviews, King revealed that he is never done with 'The Dark Tower' and he will always think about the books. In an interview by 'Rolling Stone', King spoke about his extreme love for this series.

The film is incomplete without its female lead. The role of Tirana is admired and much talked about. Thus, for Tirana, Abbey Lee was seen as most fitting.

Abbey Lee's role of Tirana is still a topic of debate among fans, as it's known to cause confusion. Since in the book, this character is a little devilish and the movie doesn't follow portray the character in the same way.

Thanks to the success of King's work, there are some actors who are seen repeatedly in different Stephen King movies. One such actor is Matthew McConaughey who plays Randall Flagg. Before 'The Dark Tower', the actor also delivered a notable performance in 'The Eyes Of The Dragon'.

Stephen King is well known for creating stories with numerous characters all revolving around a main plot. This gives the reader the tough job of keeping track of many characters!

This movie is loved by fans for other reasons as well. Henry Bowers is one of the many reasons why the film got so much attention, since the actor is also well known for his role as Pennywise in another movie adapted from a Stephen King novel, 'It'. He is a popular antagonist in the Stephen King film-verse.

Behind-The-Scene Facts Of 'The Dark Tower'

A movie with so many characters is going to be fun both on-screen and off-screen. This statement is well supported by the behind-the-scene facts of the movie.

Some of the actors who are seen playing roles in the movie had previously read the book and were already big Stephen King fans.

After the release of the movie, when the artwork for the movie came out, the actors were more than impressed to see their work receiving praise!

The artwork which shows the battle of Jericho Hill is one of the favorites of many actors from this film.

The movie features some very well-known Hollywood actors, including Idris Elba, Ron Howard, and Matthew McConaughey.

There are a few actors who have appeared in more than one movie adaptation of a King novel, including Morgan Freeman and Kathy Bates.

Budget & Awards Won For 'The Dark Tower'

All films which follow a storyline written by King follow the trend of winning the hearts of fans and audiences. When it comes to the success of 'The Dark Tower', it followed the same path as any other King film.

The movie had a strict budget of around $66 million. After the worldwide premiere of the movie, the overall revenue by the movie was more than $100 million.

Many critics didn't like the movie and spoke very openly about that. For many fans, the movie didn't do justice to the story written by King.

Aside from the negative critics, there were also lots of positive reviews about the film. As a result of all the positive reviews, the movie was nominated for a number of reputable awards.

There were a lot of talks about the extraordinary performance by Idris Elba and other actors in the movie.

If we talk about the overall review pool of the movie, a lot of critics believe this movie is a bad representation of King's work. Many other critics believe that this movie didn't do justice for their hopes and to King's fans. Regardless, many people liked how a complicated and long storyline was fitted in a movie and represented in a simplistic, but exciting way.

FAQs

Has this film won any awards ?

The film didn't win any major awards, but they did bag a few nominations. Most of the nominations were for the actors' performances.

How long did this movie take to make?

Since the storyline of the book is big, the book covers a total of more than 1000 pages. Due to that, it took a long time to make the film; almost a decade!

What is the meaning behind 'The Dark Tower' story?

The meaning of the movie or the book is not simple and it simply cannot be explained in a few words. However, to put it in the simplest words, it's about two characters who redraw existence again.

What is unique about 'The Dark Tower' story?

The story and the book is an amalgamation of many concepts. This is also because other characters from King's different books are included in this series.

What does 'The Dark Tower' symbolize?

'The Dark Tower' is a symbol of the center of the universe and world.

What are three interesting facts about this movie?

Characters from other novels by King are included in this story.

Dark academia and thriller came together to create a deadly combo.

Many actors who acted in this movie are fans of Stephen King.

Is Pennywise mentioned in 'The Dark Tower'?

Yes, the character's name is displayed in the movie.