When it comes to the Dark Tower movie adaptation, time has certainly become soft. It’s been nine months since we last heard any real news from Ron Howard (yikes!) and although we do have a couple of new nuggets of information, the bottom line is that we still don’t know when he will start filming.

Last August, right when we found out that Warner had jumped ship, we immediately heard rumors that MRC (the studio behind last summer’s comedy hit, Ted) we’re interested in making Howard’s adaptation. At the time it really was just a rumor, but last week, during the opening of this years Cannes festival, we’re told that, “Media Rights Capital is committed to make a single movie with Russell Crowe as the gunslinger Roland Deschain, with more movie’s coming if the first gets results“. Accordingly, “this isn’t set in stone“.

Another interesting comment given to Deadline reporter, Mike Flemming, is that Brian Grazer has been “approached by a Silicon Valley investor willing to finance Dark Tower as originally constructed, Now it’s a matter of deciding what path to take“. Hmm, that sounds intriguing.

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At the beginning of May, Stuff.tv ran an interview with Netflix Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, who it seems has been discussing the franchise with Ron Howard and had this to say when asked if Netflix could pick it up, “I spoke to Ron about it, actually. The last time we talked about it the thing was being kicked about HBO – but it’s no longer there. Once Arrested Development gets through we’ll keep talking about it.”

Howard’s idea for the Dark Tower was to make three films interspersed with a couple of TV series. It’s unlikely Sarandos was talking about being involved in the movie’s, but perhaps Netflix could take on production of the TV series.

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Very little news of substance, but certainly the most interesting is regarding that investor. We know those people down in Silicon Valley have sock-draws full of cash just waiting to be spent and if this anonymous person also happens to be a huge Dark Tower fan, then they could well want Howard’s original conception (does that mean before the budget cuts?) and that would suit me just fine.

A few days back Aimee, who’s always lurking in our comments section, posted a link to news that Emmy winner Aaron Paul dreams of taking on the role of Eddie Dean (reformed junkie turned gunslinger) in the adaptation of Stephen Kings, The Dark Tower.

Aaron, well known for his parts in Breaking Bad and HBO’s Big Love, responded “Trust me. HUGE dream of mine” to a fans tweet, “if theres a Dark Tower movie you gotta promise me you’ll play eddie dean.” If you reckon Aaron would be perfect for the part of Eddie then you’re not alone as even Damon Lindelof thinks he “…would be the best Eddie ever.”

Of course, we’re still yet to find out if the movie will be made at all.

Last we heard, Warner Bros dropped out of the running and Media Rights Capital are rumored to be interested in taking over the reigns. There’s still no official word and with Ron Howard knee deep in editing his upcoming Formula 1 movie, Rush, we’re unlikely to hear much till next year.

A big thanks to Aimee for posting the link to CinemaBlend.com who discovered the original tweets.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronpaul_8

For the first time a Dark Tower deadline has been met! Warner Bros said they would will make their decision within two weeks and that’s what they’ve pretty much done; unfortunately, it’s bad news. Warner has decided to walk from the project, passing up a golden opportunity to make this Dark Tower franchise theirs.

In a quick interview with Deadline, Stephen King had this to say about Warner Bros’ decision,

“The Dark Tower, to me, and I’m not unbiased because I’m the writer on this thing, but to me it looks like gold on the ground waiting to be picked up.” — Stephen King

I think Deadline’s Mike Flemming sums up the announcement perfectly, “You need guts to find gold in this precarious time in the film business, and Warner Bros ultimately didn’t show any here.”

So, who’s got the guts?

Is this the end of the franchise? Who will step in and take on this ambitious project and reap the huge rewards?

Well, no sooner had Warner made the announcement than we’re hearing that MRC have immediately stepped forward and has started serious talks with the intent on making The Dark Tower happen.

MRC might be my own initials, but it ain’t I who’s stepped in. This is Media Rights Capital, the people behind the summer hit, Ted (with Mark Wahlberg) and the upcoming Elysium (with Matt Damon). Apparently Modi Wiczyk from MRC is a huge Stephen King fan, though there’s no official word from them yet.

If nothing else, it shows what depth The Dark Tower world has that it’s now gaining real attention from so many quarters – the biz is finally starting to understand what opportunities are available. I just hope Media Rights Capital have both the resources and balls to take this on.

The rumor mill is churning again and this time the word is that Russell Crowe is in line to take over the role of gunslinger from Javier Bardem – this is going to cause right old ruckus among the fans. This new twist seems in part related to Warner Bros’ decision on whether or not they’ll continue their involvement with the Dark Tower movies.

From the perspective of Warner Bros however, I can see that this makes a lot of sense. Crowe is a much higher profile actor than Javier Bardem, and there’s no doubt that he has the chops and versatility to pull off a role like this. Over at Deadline, Mike believes that in the next couple of weeks the studio will be making the decision to stay or walk. If they’re keen to have him on board then the talks between Crowe, Ron Howard and producers Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman, will be key.

Is Russell Crowe a suitable Gunslinger?

You only have to read the comments on this blog to know how split the fans are over the choice of Javier Bardem being cast as the Gunslinger, and it’s unlikely this new announcement will help much in uniting them. We’d be hard pushed to say that Russell Crowe isn’t a damn fine actor, but if you ask me, he does seem a little more John Wayne than Clint Eastwood.

Still, I for one can think of worse decisions than to cast either Javier Bardem or Russell Crowe in the role of Roland of Gilead.

What’s Ahead?

Casting choices aside, if the information that Warner will be making their decision in the next two weeks is correct, then we have hope. If they give the green light then filming could start as early as Spring 2013.

Three films and two TV series is such a big commitment for any studio, so if Warner Bros decides to walk like Universal did, then it could be several more years before another studio steps in.

Perhaps before the month is out we’ll know if the Dark Tower movies will be released this decade or not.

(Image from IMDB of 3:10 to Yuma movie / Deadline article here.)

After several months lost in the wilderness we finally have another studio showing interest in adapting Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic Western; The Dark Tower. Mike Flemming is reporting that Warner Bros are in talks – in fact very close to closing a deal – with director Ron Howard and partners, to fund their adaptation of this epic fantasy.

If you remember, Universal Pictures originally took up the option to back Howard on this hugely ambitious project with Akiva Goldsman writing the script for a full movie trilogy, plus a couple of TV series. But, last spring Universal put the whole thing on hold asking Goldsman to drastically cut the budget until two months later, in July 2011, Universal walked away after deciding they still couldn’t handle the cost of making such a project.

That Warner has taken an interest in this shouldn’t be such a surprise when we recall that just a few months back Brian Grazer was interviewed by MTV News stating that the TV segment of the project would be taken up by critically acclaimed studio HBO (Game of Thrones, Band of Brothers). As HBO is a Warner Bros sister studio, this indeed bodes well for Dark Tower fans.

Warner Bros themselves are no strangers to mega multi-part movies having backed projects such as Harry Potter and the Matrix, so they’re certainly going to have the willingness and resources to back something as grand as The Dark Tower.

For now, everything that was in place previously is set to remain; Howard, Grazer and Goldsman, with Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica) being brought in to co-write the TV series, and Javier Bardem in the lead role of Roland Deschain.

A possible production start date is Q1 2013.

It’s great to see a studio of Warner’s stature take an interest in the Dark Tower. With their recent big-budget movies and HBO’s quality track record I’m really getting excited by this news.

This saga has been on-going for several years now; J.J.Abrams was first on the scene way back in 2007 when he famously bought the movie rights for $19, and yet each time we’ve been left disappointed. Still, summer is just around the corner and I’m getting lots of positive vibes, so I’m going to put my neck out and say I think this could be it; the Dark Tower will be a Warner Bros movie.

The year has turned over and we’re but a handfull of days into the new one. I’ve been snoozing here in my cozy little crib dreaming other-worldly dreams and in general, taking things pretty darn easy. That is, until I got the latest round of emails and comments asking, nay, demanding some news! I only wish I could have something to report for you, but life is not being particularly cooperative at the moment.

Still, as I’m awake now, we might as well take stock of where we are with the Dark Tower movie saga.

The last we heard, Universal had pulled out of the running and the movies were left high and dry. Ron Howard is currently traveling around Europe, researching material for his new F1 project, Rush – a film about the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt in the ’70s. He’ll start shooting in February, with a release planned for the end of the year.

Brian Grazer told MTV News that the TV series would be done by HBO, “We’re going to do ['The Dark Tower'] with HBO,” Grazer told us. “We’ll do the TV with HBO, and we’ll do the movie with…to be determined. We’ll do it right” but quite frankly, I’m not taking this seriously. Once a studio is onboard that decision could very well be changed.

As we all know by this point, Stephen King is releasing a new Dark Tower instalment, The Wind Through the Keyhole, which is set to be released April 24, 2012 – that’s just over 100 days for those who are counting! Not that I am…honestly…

And that about wraps up the current situation.

Dark Tower Predictions

I guess this’d be a great time to put our prediction hats on and see if we can foretell when we might get our first instalment of the DT movies.

There’s been a few quotes from Ron Howard along the lines of, “we are continuing to work on the script to find ways to make the budget more manageable and still deliver the work in a way that the project deserves…These kinds of projects often take years to come together in the right ways. But I am in love with the material, and the minute it can come together in the right way, I am fully committed to it” but because of Ron’s work on his F1 movie, I wouldn’t expect anything to be done on the Dark Tower until next year, at the earliest – even if he can find a studio to back him.

Considering the up’s and down’s of this project over the last few years, that’s about as adventurous as my prediction is going to get.

I’d love to hear your own predictions so c’mon, don’t be shy, let’s us know your thoughts in the comments.

All things considered, I’m expecting it to be pretty quiet for 2012, so I’m going back into hibernation – until April 24 anyhow…

In yet another spin on the adventure that is our filmic journey to the Dark Tower, Universal has decided to throw in the towel on the movie trilogy/TV series. Yeah okay, no real surprise here.

A number of reports have come in over the last couple of days telling that financial constraints are the reason and that Universal were only prepared to go ahead with a one movie project. It’s also been pointed out that Universal is currently backing a couple of $200+ million projects (Battleship and 47 Ronin) so they obviously feel that they’re stretching their pockets a bit too much with the Dark Tower.

According to rogue reporter Mike Fleming, neither Ron Howard nor Universal wishes to come out and explain the whys, but no doubt the reasons will come to light in the coming days.

So where does this leave the project?

Up a creek with no paddle, some would say. However, I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full type of guy so I’m going with the hope that the previous Warner Bros speculation will come to fruition, and considering (as Fleming points out in his post)  WB are financing Peter Jackson’s two-part Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, they certainly seem open to backing epic tales.

One thing is for certain, it’s time to hunker down – we’re in for a long wait.

A few days back we heard a rumor that Ron Howard may walk from the Dark Tower project but in a recent interview, he says nothing of the sort.

The interview is mostly about Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s 25 year partnership as Imagine Entertainment, but about half-way in there’s a small conversation about the movies and where things stand. In short, production still looks to be going ahead (in March) and with Howard at the helm.

Ron Howard still retains his earlier enthusiasm for Stephen King’s DT universe and justifies his involvement saying, “if you’re not out there taking some risks, if you’re just coasting along with your wins, then you’re not really trying.”

But it’s these risks, and that Howard was trying a “bold attempt to fast track” the start date (due to weather concerns – whatever that means), that forced Universal to be cautious and want to tighten up on the budget. Howard wouldn’t provide any hard numbers on what cuts he was asked for but did say, “Without putting a number on it, the cuts aren’t that deep or that radical.”

The last question Deadline asked Ron Howard in regards to the Dark Tower was, “Is Javier Bardem set to play the main gunslinger Roland Deschain?”

“Nobody is pay or play but he has said he wants to do it. We’ve spent a lot of time together. He’s fascinated by the character and has great instincts for Roland. I’m hoping when we go, he’s available and will join us.”

Bardem was never fully signed for the role, it only got as far as his agent “putting the finishing touches on the deal”.

Timing is always critical on such projects and if Bardem gets offered another interesting part before the green light, then Howard will not get his man.

The full interview transcript is available over at Deadline.

The latest news/rumor surrounding the Dark Tower movie adaptation is that Ron Howard is jumping ship and Universal may pull the plug altogether!

Currently, Universal is pushing a rewrite of the script – the previous plan was to have 3 Movies and a couple of TV seasons – but the Hollywood Reporter is telling us that Ron Howard may actually walk away from the project. Apparently, sources close to him say that Tom Hanks wants Howard to join him on the Scott Rudin Somali Pirate project, as they’ve worked together on five previous movies.

Universal is naturally denying this but considering that previous rumors turned out to be true, things are looking pretty grim for a Dark Tower movie appearing anytime soon.

To my mind it does seems a little strange that Howard would jump so easily, especially when we consider how enthusiastic he was;

“We worked on it for a year before we even met with [Stephen King]…I really can’t stop thinking about it. We’ve been meeting and talking and I’ve been reading and researching and just kind of living with it…and I feel challenged in the most exciting ways.”

Was he being completely sincere, or was he only interested in the money and reputation to be gained from this type of project?

Just as production on the Dark Tower finally gets underway, all our hopes could once again be dashed. There’s a rumor doing the rounds that Universal Studios is about to drop the whole project due to budget concerns!

Although Universal and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment are denying the rumor, Mike Fleming (Deadline) believes there’s truth behind it as all the pre-production staff have been told to stop work. Talk between all parties is ongoing but only time will tell if they’ll work out how to proceed. With all tools downed it’s hard to believe the September start will go ahead as planned, regardless of what happens next.

As we know, the Dark Tower is a very ambitious project, perhaps even more so than the Lord of the Ring trilogy. Production is set to be three feature length films, sandwiching two TV miniseries. Ron Howard is to be at the helm and Javier Bardem has been chosen to play the lead role of Roland Deschain.

There’s still hope though as Fleming believes that if Universal does pull out, the whole production could be put on turnaround and be taken on by “Warner Bros, where [Akiva] Goldsman’s Weed Road has its deal” — ‘turnaround’ is where the producer (Imagine Entertainment) can shop it to another studio, either in its entirety or in partnership with Universal Studios.

The path to the Dark Tower was never going to be an easy one, but let’s hope one of the studios has enough faith in Stephen King’s imagination to take it through to the end.

UPDATE: the latest news is that Universal are now pushing back the start of filming to February 2012, and are also wanting to reduce production costs. We have to presume they’ll go ahead with this only if they’re able to get the costs down.

I am a little worried that the reduction in costs will also mean a reduction in detail and coverage Ron Howard will be able to bring to the adaptation. Only time will tell.

If Universal do wish to be part of this project they’ll need to get a move on; they only have until July, that’s just 6 weeks away, to give this the “green light”. If they haven’t done so by then, the rights will revert back to the filmmakers and Stephen King. Chop chop, guys, the world is moving on.