The Dark Tower series film adaptation

The Dark Tower is a planned film and television adaptation of the series of dark fantasy novels by the author Stephen King. The series spans seven main novels with an upcoming eighth, 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 The Dark Tower series. It will be produced and directed by Ron Howard, and written by Akiva Goldsman.
Release information
Originally announced in April 2010, it was officially confirmed by Stephen King and Universal Pictures on September 8, 2010, that the series will be brought to both the big and the small screens via a trilogy of feature films and two seasons of a television series to bridge gaps between the films. According to a press release from Universal on October 29, 2010, the first Dark Tower film will open on May 17, 2013. According to Howard, after the first film, which will be more action-oriented, a six-episode television miniseries will follow, focusing more on character-driven drama.
On July 18, 2011, Universal decided to cancel development of the movies and TV series due to budget concerns. Despite this, Stephen King is confident Howard will see the project through with another studio, and Howard confirmed the adaptation is still on track, noting that HBO will now carry the television series portion of the project.
Pre-production
In April 2010, it was announced that the books will be adapted into a trilogy that will be written by Akiva Goldsman and directed and produced by Ron Howard.
Casting
*Javier Bardem as Roland Deschain
Background information
IGN Movies first reported in February 2007 that a film adaptation of The Dark Tower series was in the works. J. J. Abrams, co-creator of the television show 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. According to issue #923 of Entertainment Weekly, King "is an ardent supporter of the desert-island show 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." 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."
In April 2009, both Abrams and Lindelof revealed that they would most likely begin adapting the series when Lost concludes in 2010.
However, in November 2009, Abrams stated that he would not be adapting the series. During an interview with MTV, 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." Furthermore, in an interview with USA Today, Damon Lindelof stated that "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."

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