Warner Bros. show interest in The Dark Tower? Bardem still onboard?

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

After a massive impasse at Universal, it looks like Warner Bros. is ready to climb THE DARK TOWER…

Deadline is reporting that, yes, after Universal proved unwilling to back a film trilogy and two TV spin-off series based on Stephen King’s sprawling tome, it now appears that Warner Bros. is interested in adapting the property. If a deal is struck, Ron Howard will helm at least the first feature in the series, likely doing so with Javier Bardem as the gun-slinging Roland Deschain (schedule permitting). Howard will produce with partner Brian Grazer and King alike.

With Akiva Goldsman set to polish his own script:

In the story, Roland Deschain is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of “Arthur Eld”, his world’s analogue of King Arthur. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West but is also magical. Many of the magical aspects have vanished from Mid-World, but traces remain as do relics from a technologically advanced society. Roland’s quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Roland’s world is said to have “moved on”, and it appears to be coming apart at the seams. Mighty nations have been torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish without a trace and time does not flow in an orderly fashion. Sometimes, even the sun rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland’s motives, goals and age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.

Alright, so what do we think? Are we stoked Howard retains the director’s chair? Do you think Bardem will keep his schedule clear in order to play Roland Deschain? Do you think the whole 3-movies and 2-TV series will become fruitful…or are those plans too lofty in this current economic climate?

Howard looks to direct the first part of THE DARK TOWER in the Spring of 2013.