Warner Bros. is fresh off of their eight-film, multi-billion dollar Harry Potter franchise, and are no doubt looking for something new that they can reel off over the next few years to hopefully take its place on their balance sheet. It would appear that one franchise they're considering is The Dark Tower, the huge three-film, two-television-season project that's being shepherded along by Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman.
Multiple sources are saying that Warner Bros. is talking about the project with its producers, but hasn't gone to the point of saying that they're in "negotiations" yet. It'd make a good fit for Warner, though, should they wish to proceed with the project, as they could produce the television seasons through their sister company, HBO, although most of the news stories floating around indicate that Warner would only be willing to commit to the first movie and not all three of them at one go. Javier Bardem, rumored to be the lead choice for Roland Deschain, is reportedly still on board for the project, presuming it can get off to some kind of timely shoot; currently he's filming Skyfall, the latest James Bond film.
Despite all this good news, I still question whether or not Akiva Goldsman is really the right person for the job. He's had some hits, but most of his mass-market attempts at filmwriting have been pretty goddamn awful; this is the man who wrote I, Robot, Batman & Robin, and Lost In Space, after all. Maybe that's cherry picking the worst of his stuff, but still: Batman & Fucking Robin.
@DefAde said:
I dunno if I'd go quiet that far. I didn't mind the ending but I understand how people might not like it, or hate it. But to say he showed a lack of respect to fans sounds a bit extreme. I don't think he tried to phone it in, I just don't think he knew what he wanted to do with the end of that series.
@LaserLambert: It's interesting cause he weaves in characters and events from other books he's written. It gets pretty meta as it goes on, sometimes maybe a bit too much so but absolutely worth reading.
I need to read the books. This movie and series buzz has me interested.
Although, if Warner Bros. is looking for something to take the place of Harry Potter then they should look into the Artemis Fowl book series. They are shorter than the Potter books so would be easier to compress and have some of the same qualities along with some better ones as well (imo). Plus, the final book (#8) is coming out in a few months.
Oh lord, the dark tower? - They should only consider it if they can focus it on the first 3 books - the rest is so terribly conceived and written that it would need a complete rewrite - Stephen King has admitted he makes thing up as he goes and after the 3rd book it REALLY shows - it's riddled with deus ex machinas, plot holes, story problems and crap writing.
That's pretty good news!
Though I wish Bad Robots was still involved in this project...
Hmmm, I loved the second book, was intrigued though unsatisfied by the first book, felt my interest waning by the third book, and just had to wait too fucking long for the rest (I know now that a lot of that time King was recovering from a terrible injury and not writing at all). Wolves of Cala is an obvious retelling of Seven Samurai, and after that the books are mired in bizarre self reference, and I think all readers saw that ending coming. I mean really??
The concept is awesome, to work on the screen however, it would need some monumental paring down. The great moments are enough for at least three films. Not to mention the fun to be had when King started linking all his past ideas to Roland's Quest. I hope it sees the light of day, but it will be about as much work as adapting Tolkien was.
@Atary77: I have had multiple debates with friends over this and I agree with you completely