Talk Stephen King: Dark Tower Movie Again

picture: http://www.stephenking.com/promo/dark_tower_film_and_tv/news_tracker/

"...It might be the challenge of a lifetime but clearly a thrilling one to take on and explore.”

- Ron Howard

Stephenking.com has put out a press release today to announce plans for the Dark Tower movie are on again. Unfortunately, my nomination for director/producer/writer for the movie has been overlooked. http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com/2010/05/just-thought.html

This movie has had more lives and deaths than Ross Perot's political career. Actually, there is something exciting in the many starts and stops in this project; it indicates Hollywood is aware of their tendency to seriously mess up King's work! I appreciate the willingness to slow down and get it right. I also appreciate the apparent screen time this project is going to get; which is massive!

Today's press release revealed 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 gets the directors chair for the first film. This is going to be a tough one; especially if it is based on The Gunslinger. (I'm already anxious for Drawing of the Three).

KING

King said, "“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. 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.”
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Howard echoed this sentiment, “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.”

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THE PLAN:

The first film will be immediately followed by a television series that will bridge to the second film. After the second film, there will again be a television series. It looks like this series will focus on Roland's young years. (Sounds like the comics and Wizard and Glass to me). After the second series, there will be a third movie and "beyond."

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Akiva Goldman said, "The worlds of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series are richly detailed, inter-locking and deeply connected. 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.”

QUESTIONS:

Actually, just one question. What about Wind Through The Keyhole? Is it figured into the timeline? Is it a novella, or a full length novel?

LINKS