The Dark Tower is fiiiiiiinally hitting theaters this week. The sci-fi western, which kicks off a massive planned franchise based on characters created by Stephen King, stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Judging from what we've seen of the seemingly surefire blockbuster so far, this movie is going to be fucking gorgeous:
A new report from Variety, however, crash-landed into my timeline Tuesday to cast some serious doubt on that excitement. The report claims the long-in-the-works project was "plagued" with multiple issues and clashing creative visions. Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman is alleged to have set up shop in the editing bay for "hours" after director Nikolaj Arcel turned in an early cut.
That version of Dark Tower, described here as alarming to both Rothman and Media Rights Capital (MRC)'s Modi Wiczyk, was followed by screenings of a pre-SPFX edit that reportedly left audiences confused by the dense mythology of the source material. Additionally, Variety's report claims, Sony and MRC spent millions on reshoots following a production that supposedly suffered from a case of "too many cooks" in the proverbial kitchen.
Sony, MRC, and Arcel have disputed the reports. Arcel told Variety he was supported by both studios throughout production, and that all involved parties ultimately turned to him for answers when questions arose. "If someone had jumped into my editing room and taken over — I would have left instantly," Arcel said. The film has also earned an apparent thumbs-up from King himself.
The Dark Tower was initially slated for a Feb. 17 release, only to be pushed to last Friday. Obviously, that release date didn't happen either. Instead, the film opens Aug. 4 after being swapped out with a movie we can say with utmost certainty was a fucking piece of 💩: The Emoji Movie.
Should these reports have us worried? Here's an idea: Ignore all of it, and see the movie for yourself this Friday. Sounds reasonable to me.
