The multi-tiered adaptation of Stephen King's epic The Dark Tower series is starting to look like a pipe dream. Long rumored to be up in the air, plans for development at Universal have officially been severed. First pushed back, then on hiatus, and now dropped. It's still possible that Ron Howard may move the project to another studio or scale back his extremely grandiose intentions to make a big-screen trilogy and tie-in television series (to feature the same cast).
Here's an exert from
Deadlline about the crushing news:
The moment has come for Universal Pictures to fish or cut bait on The Dark Tower, the ultra-ambitious adaptation of the Stephen King 7-novel series that was going to encompass a trilogy of feature films and two limited run TV series. The studio has said, No Thanks. Universal has passed on going forward with the project, dealing a huge blow in the plan for Ron Howard to direct Akiva Goldsman's script, with Brian Grazer, Goldsman and the autor producing and Javier Bardem starring as gunslinger Roland Deschain. Now, the filmmakers will have to find a new backer of what might well be the most ambitious movie project since Bob Shaye allowed Peter Jackson to shoot three installments of The Lord of the Rings back to back.
Personally, I'm a little crushed by this development because I'm a huge fan of the novels and I felt Javier Bardem was the perfect choice to play Roland Deschain.
The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King has described the series as his magnum opus. Besides the seven novels that compose the series proper, many of his other books relate to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses. After the series was finished, a series of prequel comics followed.
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