'Dark Tower' by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman (exclusive)

UPDATED

By Borys Kit and Ace Fernandez

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot shingle, which has long sought to crack Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” book series as a television series, no longer has the rights to one of the author’s biggest properties.

Bad Robot has returned the rights back to the best-selling author. Now Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman are teaming up to tackle the fantasy Western.

The three are in discussions on a scenario that would see an adaptation begin as a movie, to be written by Goldsman and directed by Howard, that would lead to a TV series produced by Imagine’s small-screen division.

“Tower” is not set up, nor has any option deal been made, but insiders say Universal, home to Imagine, would be the studio that will release the movie.

That would be a contrast to the vision drawn up by Bad Robot, which had been eyeing their potential series as a reunion with “Lost” exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Because of the comprehensive nature of the project, the creators wanted to wait until “Lost” was over to give it their attention. When they realized they wouldn't be able to do an adaptation justice, they gave the rights back to King.

King’s magnum opus, “Tower” encompasses not just a narrative about the Man in Black and Roland, the Gunslinger, that spans seven lengthy books (and one short story), but also the entire universe of King’s fiction. Characters from his other novels flit in and out of “Tower” in minor and major ways.

Envisioned when King was still in his teens as his own take on spaghetti Westerns and the world of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” “Tower” has also spawned a series of graphic novels from Marvel Comics, with the latest issue hitting shelves May 19. The property’s expansive nature and direct connection to King’s other works make it one of the biggest, ripest franchise possibilities in entertainment.

Comments

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[Twapedo]

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[dtroolsok]

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[towerfan]

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the books, I seriously doubt if anyone could do them any justice, whether it be on a big screen or small. I have also enjoyed most of Ron Howard's films, but I don't think he did very well with Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or Angel's & Demons.

[Tyler]

Ron Howard is an awful choice.

[Michael]

Wow, I can't think of a director I would less like to see attached to this project.

[Jon Hallwood]

Howard? Seriously? How can King trust the Dark Tower to Howard? Stop before it's too late!

[Max]

The problem isn't Ron Howard. He's a capable director and has a strong hand at narrative. The problem is Goldsman. If there's one man to blame for everything wrong with Hollywood, it's this guy. He takes complex characters and boils them down to two dimensional caricatures. He's grossly incapable of telling a consistent story and he injects a theistic agenda into everything he writes. You can tell the scripts he's re-written by the moment they go off the rails and the ones he's credited with writing are fetid. The Dark Tower series is a mammoth work revolving around one horribly flawed character, Roland of Gilead, who sacrifices everything he loves for a final, terrible price. Expect Goldsman to destroy this one, too, and somehow escape blame. Someone needs to stop this guy from writing.

[Mat]

Please God don't try to squeeze these detailed and elaborate books with complex characters and plots into 3 movies. That is a guaranteed way to ruin them all. They must be allowed to blossom and absorb the watcher as the stories did the reader. To not attempt to do these stories that way is a insult to the masterpiece that is Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

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[novelright]

Stephen King rules. Dark Tower is long overdue, guys. Make it a trilogy! It would be cool if they incorporated this appropriate sign:

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[roland deschain]

Like a wheel Ka rolls....

[Adam]

We need a gunslinger movie! but please god not a terrible made for tv series, those always turn out poorly. They need to handle this properly or not at all. Don't half ass this! Everyone knows it will take more than a trilogy to do this any kind of justice! Just saying, this news is as exciting as it is scary!

[memory stick]

All these elements make the Dark Tower one hell of a thing to adapt. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse seems perfect for the task, and Howard and Goldsman no. I do not capture the peculiarities of history. Certainly not in the form Cuse, Damon Lindelof and Bad Robot may have.

[Jakechambers1303]

I am so happy that the series will be made itno a movie/tv series. I also think Ron Howard is a great pick to direct it he keeps true to the books he make into movies so I think it will be very enjoyable.

[frank]

Eff--Ron Howard? If it isn't going to be JJ Abrams, I would love to see Guillermo Del Toro on this. I would love to see what he can do with these movies. Look at the darkness he brought to Pan's Labyrinth. He is a genius in the fantasy realm.

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[Jeffery Pendergrass]

I think one of the few people that could do the dark tower series justice would be Peter Jackson. He did so well on the Lord of the Ring trilogy. And I agree that it can not fit into three movies. It would take at least seven. As far as tv, it would need to be on HBO or SHOWTIME.

[Shelly]

I have loved Stephen King's works since I read Carrie; however have never cared for the TV adaptations; they just never do the book the justice it deserves. His books are so involved and take so many turns, jump back and forth, introduce characters like crazy and they just never seem to get it right on TV. Now as for movies I would be all for that. I would love to see Rutger Hauer as Roland. He has always been the one I have believed perfect for the part. He has that tough old world character about him, yet caring as well. I hope for the show/movie's sake they don't cast a bunch of clean cuts and try to 'dirty them up' to play these roles.