Untitled The Dark Tower series film adaptation

Promotional poster
Directed by	Nikolaj Arcel
Produced by	Ron Howard Brian Grazer Stephen King
Screenplay by	Nikolaj Arcel Akiva Goldsman Anders Thomas Jensen Jeff Pinkner
Based on	The Dark Tower  by Stephen King
Production company	Media Rights Capital LStar Capital Imagine Entertainment Weed Road Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	January 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
Country	United States
Language	English

The Dark Tower's protagonist Roland as depicted in the opening credits of another Stephen King adaptation, The Mist (2007)

Efforts to adapt Stephen King's novel series The Dark Tower for the screen have been ongoing since 2007.^[1] The project has experienced starts and stops with various filmmakers and studios at different times. Currently, Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital have announced in July 2015 they will be going ahead with the production under the direction of Nikolaj Arcel.^[2]

Background information

The book series spans eight main novels, one novella, and several comic book series based on the events of the novels. There are also numerous other novels and short stories written by King throughout his career that contain links to this series. The series focuses on Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger in a world that has "moved on", on a lifelong quest to find the elusive Dark Tower, the nexus of all universes.

Project evolution

The project has been ongoing since 2007 with periodical reports and official announcements, but nothing has materialized as of yet. To date, the proposed film adaptation has gone through three major phases of planning: initially with J. J. Abrams from 2007 to 2009, then with Ron Howard from 2010 to 2015, and currently with Nikolaj Arcel (possibly with Howard remaining in a producing role).

J. J. Abrams (2007–09)

IGN Movies first reported in early February 2007 that a film adaptation of The Dark Tower series was in the works. J. J. Abrams, co-creator of the television series Lost, was supposedly attached to produce and direct. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, who co-created Lost with J. J. Abrams, optioned The Dark Tower from King for a reported amount of nineteen dollars, a number that mysteriously recurs throughout the series.^[3] According to issue #923 of Entertainment Weekly, King "is an ardent supporter of [Lost] and trusts Abrams to translate his vision" into a film franchise with Lindelof being "the leading candidate to write the screenplay for the first installment."^[4] It was around this same time that Marvel Comics launched their graphic novel adaptation of The Dark Tower with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born. Later, in March 2007, Abrams noted in an interview with Wired that the project is "something that we are just now talking about with Stephen, so it's too early for me to say that we're even officially doing it yet just because the thing is in the early stages of discussion."^[5]

A year later, in February 2008, Abrams reiterated that The Dark Tower adaptation was in the early stages of development, when interviewed by the Reelz Channel.^[6] When interviewed by AMC in September 2008, Abrams admitted that the project needs time he does not have because of Lost, especially since he would like to see a seven-film series (the eighth novel would be published in 2012). However, in May 2009, Abrams stated to IGN that he and Lindelof were planning on beginning work on The Dark Tower as soon as Lost finished its run.^[7] Speaking to MTV News around the same time, Lindelof revealed some apprehension regarding the project, noting that his "reverence for Stephen King is now getting in the way of what any good writer would do first when they're adapting a book, which is take creative license."^[8] In a July 2009 interview with C21 Media, Lindelof revealed that he and Cuse had indeed optioned the rights for The Dark Tower, but said he was wary about committing to such an ambitious project: "The idea of taking on something that massive again after having done six seasons of Lost is intimidating and slightly frightening, to say the least."^[9]

With these reservations being voiced by the producers, this initial phase of the project came to an end at the end of 2009 after three years, since this was a three-year option. In an interview with USA Today in October 2009, Damon Lindelof stated: "You'll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that's probably the reason that I shouldn't be the one to adapt it. After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I'm such a massive Stephen King fan that I'm terrified of screwing it up. I'd do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they're so incredible. But not by me."^[10] Finally, in November 2009, Abrams stated that he would not be adapting the series. During an interview with MTV News, Abrams made the following comments: "The Dark Tower thing is tricky. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now."^[11]

Ron Howard (2010–15)

In April 2010, five months after J. J. Abrams had revealed that he would no longer pursue his adaptation of The Dark Tower, Deadline reported that Universal Pictures will be bringing the series to both the big and the small screens via a trilogy of feature films alternating with two seasons of a television series to bridge gaps between the films. The involved parties included Akiva Goldsman writing the script, Ron Howard directing and producing, along with Brian Grazer and Stephen King.^[12] The report was made official by NBC Universal five months later via a press release dated September 8, 2010.^[13] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly following the announcement, King stated that "I always thought it would take more than a single movie, but I didn't see this solution coming—i.e., several movies and TV series. It was Ron [Howard] and Akiva [Goldsman]'s idea. Once it was raised, I thought at once it was the solution."^[14] A month later, in October 2010, it was reported that the first Dark Tower film would open on May 17, 2013.^[15] In December 2010, Howard offered the following in regards to the project's progress: "It is going well, and it has been incredibly stimulating to work on. 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. I hope it goes great. I hope it goes the way we think it will. It never does, really. But sometimes it goes better." Despite Howard's enthusiasm, Universal had not greenlit the project yet at that point.^[16][17]

By the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, the New York Post was reporting that Javier Bardem and Viggo Mortensen were in line to play the lead character of Roland Deschain, and Naomie Harris was being considered for the character of Susannah Dean.^[18][19] Speaking on the Howard Stern Show in January 2011 and qualifying his words with the phrase "I don’t know if it's going to happen or not", Howard said that after the first film, which would be more action-oriented, a six-episode television miniseries would follow, focusing more on character-driven drama.^[20] For his part, Brian Grazer stated around the same time that a casting announcement could be made "within a week."^[21] As reported by Deadline on January 26, 2011, Javier Bardem was officially offered the role of Roland, though no official negotiations had yet taken place.^[22] Grazer stated in March 2011 that Bardem "really wants to do it."^[23]

In April 2011, it was reported that Mark Verheiden (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica) was joining the television portion of the project as executive producer and Akiva Goldsman's co-writer. The same month it was officially announced that Javier Bardem was cast in the role of Roland.^[24] However, just a month later, a report in Variety revealed that Universal may seek another studio's help, as the project's budget appeared to be more than they were willing to handle.^[25] Hollywood Reporter wrote later that the project was on the verge of turnaround, and Warner Bros. or Sony Pictures could potentially take the project on, revealing that Universal had paid $5 million for the rights.^[26] Shortly after that, Universal committed to a lower budget for the project and Goldsman began rewriting the script to reflect these changes.^[27]

Originally, production was slated to begin in September 2011, but in May 2011 it was being pushed back to February 2012 or early spring. The project was still not yet greenlit by the studio, which had to happen by July 2011.^[28][29] Then on July 18, 2011, Universal decided to cancel development of the entire project due to budgetary concerns.^[30] Despite this, Stephen King was confident Howard would see the project through, stating that he was "sorry Universal passed, but not really surprised. I bear them no ill will, and trust Ron Howard to get Roland and his friends before the camera somewhere else. He's very committed to the project."^[31] In August 2011, Howard stated that they were "trying to get outside financing to make it, and distribute it through a major [studio]", including the fact that Netflix might be an outlet.^[32] Later, in October 2011, Howard confirmed the adaptation is still on track, noting that HBO would now carry the television portion of the project.^[33]

By March 2012, it was being reported that Warner was interested in taking on the project.^[34] Several months later Goldsman delivered a new script for the first film to Warners, and the studio had to make a decision in August 2012 whether to go ahead with the project. As well, Russell Crowe was being talked about as the lead character.^[35] On August 20, 2012, Warner Bros. officially passed.^[36] At the same time, Media Rights Capital (MRC) was reported to be in talks to take over the project from Warner.^[37] In May 2013 it was reported that " Silicon Valley investor" was interested in financing the project as it was originally envisioned.^[38]

In January 2014, Aaron Paul stated that he had a conversation with Howard and was possibly being considered to play Eddie Dean (earlier, in October 2012, Paul had tweeted that the role of Eddie Dean was a "huge dream" of his).^[39][40] Following that, a rumor appeared that Liam Neeson was interested in the part of Roland.^[41]

Nikolaj Arcel (2015–present)

On April 10, 2015, it was announced that Sony Pictures with MRC were fast-tracking the project, now with a completely reworked script by Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner. King appeared optimistic, saying: "I'm excited that The Dark Tower is finally going to appear on the screen." Ron Howard appeared to be out as director, but would remain in a producing capacity.^[42] On June 2, 2015, Deadline reported that Sony was looking to Nikolaj Arcel to direct.^[43] Arcel officially signed on July 10, 2015. He and Anders Thomas Jensen are to rewrite the script.^[44] On August 5, 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment set the film for a release of January 13, 2017.^[45] In November 2015, Variety reported that Matthew McConaughey had been offered the role of the Man in Black (also known as Randall Flagg from The Stand, another role McConaughey had been offered in an upcoming adaptation).^[46] In January 2016, it was officially announced that Idris Elba has been cast to play Roland Deschain.^[47]

References