Ever wonder what happened to the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower? Ron Howard has a few answers for you.
The last time we did a story on The Dark Tower film was back in August of 2012. That’s when Warner Bros. decided to pass on the project after Universal already had. It was said Media Rights Capital (Elysium) was then trying to pick up The Dark Tower from Imagine Entertainment.
Empire Online has an exclusive discussion with the director from a recent podcast episode. Here’s what he said:
“The Dark Tower is something that we’re still working on. We’ve all taken a vow of silence about the progress, the headway, what we think our timetable is, because I don’t think I realised how much media interest there was in the title and how much excitement there was.
“It’s a fascinating, powerful possibility and even Stephen King acknowledges it’s a tricky adaptation, but to be honest, from a financing side, it’s not a straightforward, four-quadrant, sunny superhero story – it’s dark, it’s horror. That edge is what appeals to me, the complexities of those characters is what appeals to all of us. And I think Stephen King really respects that, with [regular screenwriting collaborator] Akiva Goldsman and myself, that that’s what we love about it, and that’s what we want to try to get to the screen.
“So my answer is: it got delayed, it’s never gone away. We’re working on it, and Stephen is very patient with us, and Akiva’s just gone off and directed a movie [an adaptation of Mark Helprin’s novel, Winter’s Tale, starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly and Will Smith], I’m continuing to work, but the Dark Tower dreams – fever dreams, rather – are still there, but we’re not going to give it a timetable.”
So basically, it’s still happening, they just aren’t putting pressure on it like so many other Hollywood projects. I think that’s probably wise.
Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?
