Michael Corvin

I'm down for whatever, but this sounds pretty interesting.

Dr_Evil

With Jake being a main character at an awkward age of 11, I think it would be tough to do it any other way.

MBoyd

I wonder if they will pull off having connections to King's other books or if rights issues will get in the way. What about the items from other fictional universes from book 5? Don't know if this is a spoiler -

Michael Corvin

I think you're getting ahead of yourself MBoyd jumping to book 5.

Groucho

I'm glad they took my suggestion! (sort of)

Daytripper

The only RH movie I've loved was "Cinderella Man".

Rob V

I'm surprised so many people are down on this project. Sure, it's Ron Howard but Abrams didn't want to do it... so would you rather have no movie/TV adaptation instead? I hope for the best and expect mediocre... besides, Hollywood will relaunch the whole damn thing in less than 10 years anyways; only it'll be darker and Roland will be ripped.

JayDerek

Interesting idea. I felt the books took a sharp turn downwards after Book 4, so this series of films and TV episodes could improve everything.

MBoyd

yeah probably just a bit! The whole thing is mind boggling to me. I am even wondering if 2 TV seasons and 3 features is EVEN enough. Especially is they show the Marvel Comics Young Roland stories. Maybe that was a mistake and they just meant Wizard and Glass which was also in the comics.

But I am not one to cry if they don't strictly adapt this monster. Just make it good and adaptations and cuts where needed. And they'd be smart to put Robin Furth on the payroll too.

Xander

Again I'll say that I'm cautiously optimistic. They are definitely taking an interesting approach to the whole thing. As long as King is involved in some capacity, I'll maintain hope that this will turn out well.

Sean O'Hara

This sounds like a recipe for disaster -- serialized shows have a hard enough time getting and keeping an audience to begin with, but when you make people go to the theater to understand the show, you're only making it harder.

Drop

Yea, I just hope that it's good and that they can finish it. I hope there is some crazy contract that pretty much guarantees the completion. I wonder how they'll deal with Jake, this is at least a 5 year project, and he doesn't age that much in the books.

JayDerek

that's what I was thinking as well...sounds like another Walt (Lost) fiasco waiting to happen.

They will have to rewrite Jake's plot and just deal w/ him differently.

auto

That sure is interesting....they would need a HBO or Showtime to air the series.

Drop

Thinking about it, they could get away with some of it between The Gunslinger and The Wastelands. When Jake is drawn his age won't be an issue. Just use some alternate reality explanation for him looking older. And they could film the Wizard and Glass series the same time as the film of Wastelands. How ever they do the final 3 novels, I imagine it'll be compressed.

Navinabob

Not sure what the fuss is about. He's a skilled director with experience doing both TV and movies... considering there was a much better chance of getting someone with little experience (comic book writer, MTV video director, assistant director, Uwe Boll, whoever does those awful action movies where Jet Li teams with a random rapper, ect.) we should count ourselves lucky. Is he a perfect match? Probably not... is he better then 95% of what is out there as a option? Yes.

xfilekr

This sounds great. I just hope they get to completely follow through.

Drop

There actually wasn't much of chance of getting someone with less experience. King owns the rights to his books. It was his choice to whom the project was sold. And considering how personal the books are, there was no way someone like Uwe Boll was getting it.

And it's Akiva Goldsman that worries me. Howard can be great as a director, but the screenwriter is important here.

auto

Full press release:

NEWS RELEASE
UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION
ENTERTAINMENT TO MAKE FILM TRILOGY AND
TELEVISION SERIES BASED ON STEPHEN KING’S
EPIC SERIES OF NOVELS
THE DARK TOWER
Academy AwardŽ Winners Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and
Brian Grazer Will Produce the Three Films and the TV Series
Based on The Dark Tower

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA, September 8, 2010 – Universal Pictures Chairman Adam
Fogelson and Co-Chairman Donna Langley—along with Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC
Universal Television Entertainment and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime
Entertainment, NBC & Universal Media Studios—today announced that Universal
Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have acquired the rights to produce
three films and a television series based on the seven epic novels, short stories and comic
books from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower.

Ron Howard will direct the first film and the first season of television, which will be
written by Goldsman. Goldsman will produce the film through his Weed Road Pictures
with Howard and Grazer for Imagine Entertainment. Howard, Grazer and Goldsman will
executive produce the television series for Universal Media Studios. Kerry Foster will
executive produce the first film for Weed Road Pictures along with Todd Hallowell and
Erica Huggins for Imagine Entertainment.

“I’ve been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to
film and TV viewers around the world,” said King. “Ron, Akiva, Brian along with
Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the The Dark Tower series and I
know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the
origins and the characters in The Dark Tower that fans have come to love.”

The Dark Tower is Stephen King’s opus of seven bestselling novels with, to date, more than
30 million copies sold in 40 countries. The novels incorporate themes from multiple
genres including fantasy, science fiction, horror and adventure. After the series was
completed, a prequel of comic books based on one of the characters was also published.

“Building a franchise home for The Dark Tower is an exciting opportunity for this studio,
and we’re thrilled that Stephen has entrusted us to bring his beloved novels to the big
screen,” said Fogelson.

“Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who creates imaginary worlds that resonate with the
broadest audiences across ages and demographics,” said Gaspin. “We are thrilled to
partner with our colleagues in the film division and Brian, Ron and Akiva to bring
Stephen’s vision to the largest audience possible through this innovative multi-platform
collaboration.”

Howard, Grazer and Goldsman are planning for the first film in the trilogy to be
immediately followed by a television series that will bridge the second film. After the
second film, the television series will pick up allowing viewers to explore the adventures of
the protagonist as a young man as a bridge to the third film and beyond.

“We are excited to have found partners at Universal who understand and embrace our
approach to King’s remarkable epic,” said Howard. “By using both the scope and scale of
theatrical filmmaking and the intimacy of television we hope to more comprehensively do
justice to the characters, themes and amazing sequences King has given us in The Dark
Tower novels. It might be the challenge of a lifetime but clearly a thrilling one to take on
and explore.”

“The worlds of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series are richly detailed, inter-locking and
deeply connected,” said Goldsman. “By telling this story across media platforms and over
multiple hours—and with a view to telling it completely—we have our best chance of
translating Roland’s quest to reach The Dark Tower onto screen. We are proceeding with
tremendous excitement, fidelity to the source material and, quite frankly, no small amount
of awe at this opportunity.”

“King has created the most visually enthralling places and characters in The Dark Tower,”
said Grazer. “The synergy created across all the media divisions of our partners at NBC
Universal to tell this remarkable story is ground-breaking and invigorating. This project
will be one of the most exciting and challenging that I will have ever worked on and I am
thrilled to be a part of it.”

Sean O'Hara

So does "NBC Universal" mean this will air on NBC, or will it end up on Sci Fi Channel or something?

Jay G.

It means the show will end up on whatever network wants it most. It could possibly end up on ABC even.

For example, House is produced by NBC Universal, but airs on FOX.

mhg83

They could always cgi Jake like they did with Gollum in lotr.

lamphorn

Well, part of it is as a teenager I vowed to myself that I would someday be the director of this.. but since I'm not, if it is going to happen, I want it in good hands.

Akiva, aka "the writer of Batman and Robin" does not inspire confidence at all.. And Ron Howard, while a skilled director (and most of that credit goes to his ability to hire top technicians and craftsmen), does not make visually memorable films. He also tends to kiddie things up, so this will almost assuredly be a PG project. The source material is very dark, full of nudity and gore, and quite scary. I can't imagine this turned into a movie aimed at "Tweens" as it most certainly will be.

I disagree about King. He's a fantastic novelist, but the man has zero talent when it comes to crafting a film. The more involvement he has creatively, the worse off the final project is. He hated Kubrick's Shining and made a TV version of it more to his liking (and it was godawful).. the worst Stephen King film is arguably the one he directed (Maximum Overdrive).. and the best ones are the ones he leaves alone like the Darabont and Rob Reiner ones.

This is also very important. If it winds up on a network, forget it. HBO or Showtime could do it justice, but on a network where they'd have to bleep out the word "pee pee", this series will not work. It's an adult piece of work, not Harry Potter.

Xander

Different strokes, I guess. I liked the Shining mini-series, and while I appreciate the Kubrick film, I think of it as a KUBRICK film and not a KING film, since so much got changed for the movie. THAT's what I don't want to happen to the Dark Tower stuff. I want the future projects to stay true to the original material.

Michael Corvin

It's been done to death, but yeah, the mini-series is a better representation of a King work than Kubrick's which may be a better film in general, but it's not a King movie at all.