Rumor: Dark Tower Films May Be Dead

[vansau]

Rumor: Dark Tower Films May Be Dead

News pouring out of Hollywood makes it sound like the films based on The Dark Tower aren't even going to get a chance to get off the ground.

Stephen King's The Dark Tower series has been in pre-production for a film adaptation since last year, with a planned release date in Spring of 2013. However, there's bad news for fans of the books: Movie insiders are reporting that the project is being abandoned.

The project, which is being headed by Ron Howard, has been seen by many folks in the industry as a risky venture thanks to its massive scale. King's plot line, which spans several books and short stories, is too big for any one movie; as a result, the adaptation would cover three films and two television series.

Now, though, the adaptation is facing a very serious possibility of being nixed:

Universal Pictures has put pre-production staff on hiatus as they discuss ways to bring down the budget of the ambitious adaptation of the Stephen King novel series The Dark Tower. Talks are ongoing between studio brass, director Ron Howard and his Imagine Entertainment, and writer/producer Akiva Goldsman about how they will proceed.

At the moment, it sounds like there's still a possibility that the project might work out and fans will get to see the story acted out on both the big -and small- screens. In the meantime, you can always <a href=http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tower-Gunslinger-Peter-David/dp/0785121447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304962926&sr=8-1>check out the comic adaptation instead (though you may want to wait until Marvel publishes the ~900 page omnibus in September).

Source: Deadline via <a href=http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/05/the_dark_tower_may_be_closed_for_business.php>Topless Robot

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[DefinitelyPsychotic]

Nice pic of John Marston on the right.

OT: Never heard of it.

That's Roland, the main character from the book series.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

I don't know whether to be glad or upset. On one hand I won't get to see a movie adaptation of a great series on the other hand I won't have to suffer the indignity of saying I liked the books if the movie had turned out poor.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

One of part of me is kind of disappointed, but another part is glad.

The Dark Tower series is really surreal, I don't think certain important elements would translate well to TV/movies.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Good for them....no fantasy epic [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/] ever made a lick of money. I bet their investors are extremely happy with the decision.

 

[emeraldrafael]

-Edit-

Saw, your other post. Funny. XD


OT: I hope it gets made. I really do. Hell, I'd be happy for a Tv mini series-esqe format where all of the films are sorta made for TV (TNT does something of a decent job with this).

Though I dont know, Parts of it wouldnt be able to be shown, and they're usually those minor parst that help tie it together or give the feel (I'm trying ot think of if/how they would Tackle Eddie's naked gunfight in the second book in particular, but more then just that).

Eh., I've read the books, and they're very well written. You get a good picture in your mind, so I guess I'm conflicted on how much by excitement would outweigh the potential disappointment.

EDIT2:

Good for them....no fantasy epic [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/] ever made a lick of money. I bet their investors are extremely happy with the decision.

I think the difference with this is that The Dark Tower books arent as popular or known as LotR.

 

[Harbinger_]

It'd be nice to get some news on the proposed Wheel of Time movies.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

One of part of me is kind of disappointed, but another part is glad.

The Dark Tower series is really surreal, I don't think certain important elements would translate well to TV/movies.

All I ever got from the covers in the Barnes & Noble was there were cowboy(s) in it. What more can you tell me about them?

Despite the covers of the books, the Dark Tower series isn't a western, it's more fantasy than anything.

I can't really describe the story without ruining anything, but I would recommend readin it. It has great characters and a great setting.

 

[DefinitelyPsychotic]

Nice pic of John Marston on the right.

OT: Never heard of it.

That's Roland, the main character from the book series.

Because I totally wasn't making a joke about how similar they both look

You did mention that you never heard of the series before, so I naturally assumed you had no clue who that really was.

There is no need to be a smart-ass.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

One of part of me is kind of disappointed, but another part is glad.

The Dark Tower series is really surreal, I don't think certain important elements would translate well to TV/movies.

All I ever got from the covers in the Barnes & Noble was there were cowboy(s) in it. What more can you tell me about them?

Post-apocalyptic cowboys and a multiverse held together by the dark tower. Baddies are trying to break the tower so reality breaks. Story is about destiny/cruel fate and the main characters are all horribly flawed I don't mean like "doesn't always share" I mean like....ah dam spoilers...uh...what to put here...

It's a very trippy series the majority of which was written when Stephen King was younger and off his face on various drugs.

 

[Soods]

Nooooo! This was/is my most anticipated film(series) of all time.

 

[Mandalore_15]

I'm kinda glad this got canned. The Dark Tower books always seemed like they had a lot more potential than they ever fulfilled to me. I really hated the way King kept dropping pop culture references in there like they really existed in Roland's dimension, like the castle that was just like the Wizard of Oz's palace, or the snitch from Harry Potter that was really a bomb. Fucking lame.

 

[The.Bard]

snip

I BLOODY KNOW PLEASE STOP QUOTING ME IT WAS A JOKE PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!1

*Cries in corner*

Hey! I know you! You're that guy... that guy who phails!

I'm sorry... I couldn't resist that one. 8D