It appear that Roland's world has moved on. . . without us. Deadline reports that Universal has purchased David Guggenheim's 364. And who is going to head the project? Ron Howard. As new and very complicated projects emerge for Howrd, it makes us wonder what happened to the Tower. Universal flinched -- but what about Howard? He couldn't find anyone to take on the movies?
Howard is going to say that he's still working on it. But not full time, 24/7. He's off doing new stuff. I'm not sulking here, no sir! But I am wondering if he understands the ENTIRE UNIVERSE rests on the Dark Tower.
Why is it so hard to get a studio to do the Dark Tower? Money.
Disney recently had to give up plans for the Lone Ranger because they said the budget was too big. Now, come on! The Lone Ranger is about a masked guy, his horse and his Indian friend.
Makes me wonder: Just how much does it cost to make a cowboy flick these days?
The first gunslinger novel isn't much more than a cowboy story! Even the drawing of the Three isn't big bucks stuff. Has no one realized that once they've made the first movie, they can start raking in the money to make the next.
The first book really does have a wild west feel. Let's see, what could bazooka the price right on up there? The Battle of Tull? Maybe. We can go to the next book -- and giant whopper's there? Sorry, nothin' too big. This one is mostly a mobster story. Again, we Americans used to pull off our own fair share of mob movies. Could it really, seriously, cost that much to build a doorway on a beach?
WAIT! I know where the money is going! Dida-chick
That's it! Those nasty little beach creatures that take Roland's fingers -- they must cost millions each. And, we need quite a few.
That Lone Ranger movie was apparently going to feature werewolves in some capacity. So that gives you some sort of idea of what direction THAT movie was going in.
ReplyDeleteI love Depp, but I'm glad this movie fell apart.
Your post got me chuckling. I kept picturing them using stop motion to animate Nort!!
ReplyDeleteDisney never saw The Lone Ranger as a cowboy flick - they saw it as the next Pirates of the Caribbean. Because likewise you would have asked years ago "How much does it take to make a pirate movie these days?" Well, now we know.
ReplyDeleteAs for The Dark Tower, let's face it, the individual novels are NOT stand-alone stories. Disney would have to commit to making the ENTIRE series or none at all. In order to do that they need a star actor and director who would demand a load of money to commit to a years-long project.
Werewolves in the Lone Rangers? I guess they got that from his silver bullets. None the less, I am glad that deal fell apart. As for the DT series, I think it is the sheer scope of the things which turns them off.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely the scope that turned Universal off, I'd imagine ... but it's also the scope of the story that turned them on in the first place. All the studios these days are looking for franchises that are going to give them a decade's worth of surefire hits. They got interested in The Dark Tower because they thought it could be that for them; they got uninterested because it must have become apparent that the risk outweighed the potential.
ReplyDelete