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“We had to pull back to our September start date due to budget delays and ongoing story development and logistical issues, but Dark Tower is moving forward,” Howard said. “We’re thinking of starting in early spring now. I can’t really say who’ll be in it yet, but Javier Bardem has shown a great deal of interest. We’ll know by the end of the summer, when our flashing green light goes solid.” The project would start with a feature film, followed by six hours of TV content, starring the same actors as in the movie. “There are elements of the Dark Tower saga that are more personal and can be best dealt with on television,” Howard continued. “TV allows you to roll out details of the characters in a more methodical way.”
>>> Entertainment Weekly
The good bits:
DEADLINE: You’ll soon know their capacity for risk taking when you find out if Universal will make The Dark Tower, whose trilogy and TV components make it the most ambitious project a studio has attempted since The Lord of the Rings. How important is it for a couple of guys who’ve been together for 25 years to take big swings?
HOWARD: If you’re not out there taking some risks, if you’re just coasting along with your wins, then you’re not really trying. But we never take risk for risk’s sake. The Dark Tower seemed like such a good idea to both of us that it became impossible not to try it. It’s impossible to live with ourselves if we don’t take the swing.
DEADLINE: Why does Dark Tower warrant three movies and two TV series in between?
HOWARD: The universe Steve King created is so dimensional and creative. It blends scope, sweep, and adventure with some very personal compelling stories. We could have tried to force all of it into one or two or three movies. It became clear to me that the medium of TV has become so bold and cool, we could use it to our advantage creatively and really fulfill the possibilities of this universe of characters King gave us to work with. We can use the intimacy of television when that’s appropriate, and the scope and scale of the big screen with the bigger fantasy ideas. We discovered elements that would probably never have a home either on the big screen or on TV, but would make fantastic narrative gaming opportunities that won’t rehash the movies or TV, but have its own material borne out of the books and graphic novels. We’ve got gaming designers and there is enthusiasm for that. It’s a way to use all the mediums at our disposal to try to fulfill what’s possible. Universal sees this as an asset that can benefit the company in a lot of different ways.
DEADLINE: Still, there were rumors last month that Universal might let The Dark Tower go. That hasn’t happened but they did push the start date to early next year. Why has it been so hard to get underway?
HOWARD: The first version represented a bold attempt to fast track, because of weather concerns. It was a little more dramatic to people on the outside than to us. We’d have liked to move forward on that fast track, but it was always Phase One. There was an understanding that if we couldn’t answer all the questions in a way that made sense to all the partners involved, then we would operate on a slightly more traditional timetable. Even if we go in March, that’s still moving quickly for something of this scale.
DEADLINE: You’ve been asked to bring down the budget. By how much?
GRAZER: I’m producing it with Akiva Goldsman, who wrote it to be sensitive to cost and is rewriting it to be more so. Without putting a number on it, the cuts aren’t that deep or that radical.
DEADLINE: Is Javier Bardem set to play the main gunslinger Roland Deschains?
HOWARD: Nobody is pay or play but he has said he wants to do it. We’ve spent a lot of time together. He’s fascinated by the character and has great instincts for Roland. I’m hoping when we go, he’s available and will join us.
Oh, sweet HBO.... please step up.
"No financier has officially signed on to the project, but Warner Bros. could be a likely option since the studio is home to Goldsman's Weed Road Pictures shingle."
>>> Entertainment Weekly
>>> Source: NY Post
"When people say no to you enough, you have to lose money, which we've done without harming the scope of the film," Grazer explained.
News recently hit the Web that the production had cut $45 million from the budget, and Grazer confirmed that figure, saying that the plan for both the TV and film versions still stands.
"We'll do the TV [version] with HBO," Grazer said, adding that the film versions have not yet found a studio home. But Grazer assured fans, saying, "We'll do it right."
>>> Source
Ron Howard: We are continuing to work on the script to find ways to make the budget more manageable and still deliver the work in a way that the project deserves. We were always racing and fast-tracking the project, so I always wince when I see something written about it and there’s a release date in there. These kinds of projects often take years to come together in the right ways. But I am in love with the material, and the minute it can come together in the right way, I am fully committed to it.
Terrific meeting w/ Akiva Goldsman & Erica Huggins
No timetables but very positive
I’m told that Warner Bros is getting a new script from Akiva Goldsman for the first installment of Stephen King’s mammoth Western The Dark Tower, and that within two weeks, the studio will be making a decision on whether to green light the first leg of one of the most daring and ambitious projects to come along since The Lord Of The Rings. And here is a new wrinkle to add to the mix. Javier Bardem is no longer in the mix as gunslinger Roland Deschain. I’m told that director Ron Howard and producers Brian Grazer and Goldsman have been talking with their A Beautiful Mind star Russell Crowe about playing Deschain. While there is no deal with Crowe, that is the star that Warner Bros will be evaluating as the studio decides on whether to take a leap on a nine-volume book that has a huge following, with Howard, King and their partners planning a multi-platform presentation that could be unforgettable. The story will be told through three films and two limited run TV series.
The Dark Tower is about the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers, with Deschain becoming humanity’s last hope to save civilization as he hits the road to find the Dark Tower. Along the way, he encounters characters, good and bad, in a world that has an Old West feel. When I last wrote about this, Universal had dropped out and Warner Bros had sparked to the idea of taking on this franchise, possibly with HBO handling the TV component that would bridge the the first and second feature films, with another limited run TV series to follow. Given HBO’s adventurous forays into fantasy with Game of Thrones, it seems like the ideal venue.
If Crowe stepped up as the gunslinger, it would certainly help the project. He has clearly gotten back into the leading man game where he was when making films like Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. Crowe played a big role of Jor-El in Warner Bros’s Man of Steel relaunch of the Superman franchise, and he is currently playing the title Biblical hero in the Darren Aronofsky-directed Noah for New Regency and Paramount. We’ll know soon if that regurgence takes him into an Old West fantasy, courtesy of what King has called his answer to JRR Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
Do think he is a good choice for the role.