Back in January, I posted a poll titled Which Actor Should Play Roland Deschain?
Fans weighed in on the subject. Stephen King’s Dark Tower is near and dear to a great many people, the perfect blending of genres that include western, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The epic tale’s central character, Roland Deschain, is the last gunslinger, a knight errant on a quest to gain the mysterious Dark Tower and set right the wrongs that are eroding the foundational Beams holding up reality. It is a movie role that requires the right person to pull it off because, severely flawed, Roland is an amazingly complex character.
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer seem to have found their Roland.
Roland Deschain will be played by fantastic actor Javier Bardem!
The news breaking today, the Spanish actor has apparently signed on to play Roland for three feature films and the television miniseries that will take place around them. It is a massive deal for any actor. While I am not overly enthusiastic about the casting—Roland is a gauntly thin, blue-eyed cowboy and, let’s face it, Bardem’s bone structure and brown-eyes don’t fit that—the actor does bring the clout needed to get this movie adaptation noticed and people’s asses in theater seats.
Pluses and minuses, my friends. Pluses and minuses.
I do think Bardem can capture the essence of Roland and portray him accurately on the silver screen, if Ron Howard has a true understanding of the source material. It all comes down to director vision. Does Howard have it? He has a mediocre track record when it comes to adaptations but has produced some of the best films in movie history as well. Which Howard will show up? We’ll have to wait and see.
I’m excited to see how all of this develops. The casting of Roland is of course only one piece. There are at least three or four more important castings that have to take place before I’ll become a believer and get behind this project. More when it that happens.
The first film is scheduled to shoot this September 2011 and open in movie theaters May 17, 2013!
At least we have our Roland!
Ka is a wheel…
Im not 100% on Bardem, but I’ll take it. But I still have not heard much more on the rumor that Detta/Odetta/Susannah part will be given to a white woman, thats still a deal breaker in my eyes.
Couldn’t agree more, Chosen. If she is cast as a white woman, I will literally freak the F out!
Javier Bardem is a great actor but a lousy choice for Roland. A better choice would have been Daniel Craig. Have you seen any of the clips from Cowboys and Aliens? He’s got the look and the blue eyes. He’s perfect!
John Brune
And Ron Howard is a great director but he hasn’t made a memorable film since Apollo 13. I think someone like John Hillcoat would have been interesting–The Proposition is a really good movie!
John Brune