Written by Logan J. Fowler and Justin Matchick
Release Date: August 4th, 2017
Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Jackie Earle Hayley
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: I learned about The Dark Tower from a podcast that I listened to, but prior to that I had no knowledge of it, film, book (by Stephen King), or otherwise. The two main actors they got for it definitely lend some credibility to the proceedings but I was always wondering if the film would be interesting beyond those factors. -LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: I’ve never read any of Stephen King’s Dark Tower book series, but friends who are fans of them were either very tepid on the idea of a motion picture version or hadn’t even realized that a movie was being made at all. I know The Dark Tower books are a sprawling epic, so it’s going to very interesting to see how they will condense and mold that into a coherent film. – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. This movie looks slick, but I can’t help but feel I’ve seen too much already. Why do studios feel the need to reveal so much? Anyway, Idris Elba’s “Gunslinger” looks to be a very cool action hero, and hopefully the kid he plays off of isn’t annoying in the final product, because he doesn’t seem to be here. All in all, this could be a good time, but I’ve been let down by trailers before. -LJF
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this? Stuck somewhere between sci-fi, fantasy, action, horror, and adventure I feel like you really need to know what the books are all about in order to get the most from this trailer. The small peeks at references to other King books like the picture of the Overlook from The Shining and the Pennywise Circus from IT seemed out of place and oddly pandering, but for all I know they could already be strongly linked to the lore of The Dark Tower universe. Despite the reservations, I’ll admit that Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are huge draws for me and the action scenes do look very well shot. The final moments of the trailer, where we see Elba’s Roland Deschain shooting a man from hundreds of yards away without looking, was purely bad-ass. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent. I don’t see the need to rush out to theaters for this, but I’m definitely curious to see how the movie pans out. It’s definitely a future Redbox rental for a weekend. -LJF
Theater, Rent, Undecided, No Thanks? Undecided. I’m really not sure what to think of this one. I’m wondering if I might actually enjoy this more since I know nothing about the books and have nothing to be let down by. Honestly, I’m curious to see if Stephen King himself winds up liking it or not. – JTM
The Dark Tower opens up in theaters on August 4th, 2017
