A film adaptation of Stephen King’s magnum opus Dark Tower series has been languishing in development hell for a long, long time. Last year, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman’s proposed alternating films and television miniseries adaptation of the epic novel cycle was rejected by both Warner Bros. and Universal. The project was almost dead, but Media Rights Capitol and a private backer in Silicon Valley swooped in to save the day.
Now the project has been reduced to a single film adaptation of the first novel, The Gunslinger — and will likely star Russell Crowe in the title role.
I liked how Howard and Goldsman’s original proposal did justice to the scope of the Dark Tower novels, however, you could not find a creative team more ill-suited for the project than Howard and Goldsman. Ron Howard has proven himself an astoundingly middling filmmaker time and again. Goldsman wrote Batman and Robin, yes THAT Batman and Robin. All I’m saying is there’s probably a reason Warner Bros. passed on The Dark Tower after reading Goldsman’s script.
Now that that ambitious proposal has been reduced to a single film in order to satisfy backer Media Rights Capitol, there’s really nothing here to salvage. Fans are going to get a mediocre adaptation of arguably the most boring book in the series and there will never be a sequel because no one will want to see it.
Hopefully we can get a reboot in seven years with a better director.
SOURCE: Screen Rant
