There have been Hollywood attempts to film Stephen King's sprawling Dark Tower series since at least 2007. JJ Abrams was initially involved, and then he wasn't. 2010 saw Universal take an interest, with the possibility of a movie and accompanying TV series suggested. This never happened either.
In March this year, Warner took on the Dark Tower challenge, and it too appeared to be thinking about making a movie and a TV series, which would screen on its HBO channel. Javier Bardem was tipped to play the gunslinging anti-hero lead, Roland Deschain.
Then it all went a bit quiet.
Now, however, new sources suggest that, although Warner still hasn't exactly decided whether to make a Dark Tower movie or not, it's at least shuffled along to a point where it's prepared to start thinking about making a decision. The word is that veteran writer Akiva Goldsman's turned in a new script, and that director Ron Howard is in talks with Russell Crowe to star as Deschain – Bardem, it seems, is no longer involved.
Warner, the story goes, will deliver its verdict on whether or not to go ahead with Dark Tower in two weeks – and getting a bankable lead involved, we suspect, will have a reasonable bearing on that decision.
Making an expensive sci-fi, horror and western mash-up based on no fewer than eight weighty tomes is a considerable risk for Warner, particularly in a climate where it's safer to remake something rather than gamble on a new property. But if Warner is willing to take a risk, there's more than enough material in those pages to craft a series of films akin to Lord Of The Rings, which is probably what's interested Hollywood in the first place.
We'll keep you posted on further Dark Tower developments as they emerge.
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