Both Ain't It Cool News and Deadline.com are reporting tonight that a deal has been reached to bring Stephen King's epic, seven-book Dark Tower series to theaters - and to television.
Universal Pictures and NBC have reached a deal with Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman to adapt King's series as a trilogy of films, with a network television series bridging them between release dates. Initial plans have Howard directing at least the first film and the entire first season of the series, with Goldsman handling the scripts. Deadline is also indicating that the second season of the series, which will run between the second and final films, may adapt the storylines of the young Roland Deschain as seen in the popular Marvel Comics Dark Tower series.
As a King fan, this is the property I've most wanted to see adapted - and most feared. While I appreciate the scope of what Universal and NBC are planning, I wonder if some of the darker elements of the series will survive on network TV. I also wonder if Ron Howard - whose last attempt at anything remotely resembling this series was the fantasy film Willow - is the right guy for the job. Apparently he's passionate about it, committing to something as large and time-consuming as this project is going to be. I just hope that his passion carries through to the final product - and that it carries him through the copious hand-wringing and second-guessing that fandom is about to unleash on him.
Comments