Is The Dark Tower movie Back?

Isn't it great when the whole  world knows your age?  Stephen King turned 67 Sunday.  Of greater interest to me is that news is spreading the Dark Tower might be moving forward.

examiner.com reported:

There's also news going around about Ron Howard making an attempt to green light "The Dark Tower" adaptation with Aaron Paul in talks to play the ex-drug addict Eddie Dean. King has also been known to appear in his own films, much like Alfred Hitchcock did back in the day.

Concept Art from Ron Howard's Cancelled Adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower'

photo source: www.comicbookmovie.com

comicbookmovie.com has posted concept art from Ron Howard's stab at The Dark Tower.  It includes this note, "Conceptual illustrator, Gregory Hill ("The Amazing Spider-Man 2"), has updated his website with concept art that he created for Universal's cancelled film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, which Ron Howard ("Rush") was set to direct."

Movies.com Peter Hall remarks, "As much as we love to root for movies around here, we actually kind of hope that Howard and Goldsman's plans for a Dark Tower movie trilogy never do get off the ground. There's just too much material in the books to condense into even three movies. It really does deserve the Game of Thrones HBO treatment, but that will never happen so long as the movies are still in the works."

The current work on THE STAND movie should take note, as they are trying to squeeze  what could be an entire series into a feature movie.  (Yes, still sulking)

Hall explains the release of the concept art this way:

This week some concept art (and video; see above) created for the movie has been put online by illustrator Gregory Hill, and while it's not exciting material (it's basically just a tour through a few key locations from the books), it being published may be a sign that the movie has completely stalled. Universal was the last studio working with them on it, and this may be from the version that it nixed. Most movies don't let concept art out into the wild until after the movie has come out, so this could mean that whatever work Hill did would have never seen the light of day otherwise.

photo source: www.comicbookmovie.com

photo source: www.comicbookmovie.com

Ron Howard gives an update on "The Dark Tower"

This is reposted from my friend Bryant Burnette's site, The Truth Inside The Lie

Ron Howard gives an update on "The Dark Tower" (hint: keep holding your breath)
by Bryant Burnette

 Ron Howard appeared on this week's episode of The Empire Film Podcast to promote his new film, Rush (which is getting brilliant reviews and seems destined to figure into the Oscar race next spring).  

Ron Howard filming Rush

Among other topics, Howard spoke a bit about the status of The Dark Tower.  I put my transcription skills to use, and here you have the results:

Empire:  We said at the beginning that you might not have been here had this been a Gran Prix Sunday, but also, equally you might not have been here if The Dark Tower happened for you.  What's the latest with that?

Howard:  The Dark Tower is something that we're still working on, and we've all sort of taken an agreed vow of silence about the progress, the headway, what we think our timetable is.  I don't think I realized 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.  

  

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, and the complexity of those characters is what appeals to all of us.  I think Stephen King really respects that Akiva Goldsman and myself...that that's what we love about it, and that's what we want to try and get to the screen.  So the answer is, it got delayed in our minds; it's never gone away.  We're working on it, and he's very patient with us.  

  

Akiva's just gone off and directed a movie, and I'm continuing to work, but the Dark Tower dreams -- the fever dreams -- are still with us.  But we're not going to give it a timetable, because it was always a little bit over-reported in terms of when we thought the start date was, and then it was hugely disappointing when we didn't meet that date, and so forth.  I don't think it's a project that really benefits from being scrutinized in that way.

Empire:  I'm sure your vow of silence will cover it, but...Stephen King himself appears in The Dark Tower.  Have you thought about how you might tackle that?

Howard:  Yes!  And I will admit that Stephen said, "I don't have to be in this."  But that's not to say that he won't be!

The Empire Film Podcast is a weekly show that is well worth a weekly listen.  You can find this week's episode here, and if you'd like to listen to the full Ron Howard interview, it begins at about the 46:00 mark and runs for about fifteen minutes.  In  addition to Rush and The Dark Tower, Howard has some great things to say about his role on the recent season of Arrested Development.

I'm a Ron Howard fan in general, and every time I hear something from him about The Dark Tower, he further convinces me that he's got what it takes to do a great job.  As for Rush, it sounds like it's pretty great; I look forward to seeing it in a couple of weeks, and if The Dark Tower had to get delayed, I'm glad the delay seems to have resulted in at least one excellent movie from Howard in the interim.

Lickona's Hypothesis For The Dark Tower's Delay

I'm left speechless (well, I'm not really speechless). . . and annoyed. . . by Matthew Lickona short article at sandiegoreader.com titled, "Is God Smiting Ron Howard for Making The Da Vinci Code?"  Lickona then posts a list of successful Howard films that were pre-Da Vinci.  This is compared to a list of movies that lost money at the box office post Da Vinci.

Lickona seems to even attribute failure to land a Dark Tower deal to the hand of the Almighty, writing, "he's been  trying for a couple of years now to land a deal to make Stephen King's The Dark Tower into a film, or rather, a series of films.  No luck  yet."

Of  course, he is following up on a series of articles  in which he thinks God  must be "smiting" various actors for their parts  int he Davinci Code.   (Tom Hanks got Lickona's smiting HERE)

I'm left scracthing my head on this one.  REALLY?  That's how Mr. Lickona thinks God works?  He thinks that God is opposed to Ron Howard, and thus the Dark Tower isn't getting made?  I mean, if God worked that way, wouldn't the entire porn industry go broke?  No signs of that  happening, right?  (I'm using an extreme example, so don't go  nutso on me.) But, didn't Bill Mahar's movie do well at  the theater?  I mean, if there was a Hollywood type you would think God would be aiming at, wouldn't it be him?  Makes me think: MAYBE GOD DON'T WORK THAT WAY!

Obviously I'm not a fan of the Da Vinci code.  However, the Da Vinci Code did make money.  So the entire premise makes no sense!  It's just annoying.  But I feel so much better having pointed out how STUPID such logic is.  I think the Bible shows us that God works with us on a much more individual basis.  He convicts us of sinful  behavior and calls for personal repentance; I can't really think of an instance of his smiting entertainment profits.  He reserves most judgment for a day called. . . hold your breath, this is creative. . . judgment day!  I don't think he goes around cursing and smiting Hollywood movies!  If that is really the way Mr. Lickona thinks God works, maybe he should begin having prayer vigils for Mr. Howard so that we can get  the Dark Tower movie  off the ground!

Now, on the positive side, he also has declared that God  is smiting Mel  Gibson for making the Passion of the Christ.  He writes, "Look, it's pretty clear that God's been smiting Mel Gibson ever since Mel made The Passion of the Christ."  (HERE)

As if. . . of all the messed up things Mel  has done, what God is made  about is the movie.  Never mind the abusive behavior, the way he treats. . . everyone. . . what God is focused on is the movie.

Lickona's brilliance is on full display HERE.

Warner Brothers eyes The Dark Tower

picture credit: hollywood.com

Mike Fleming at Deadline.com  has posted news that Warner Brothers is very interested in the property.  (HERE)  If all goes well, filming could take place as soon as 2013.  That's assuming, of course, that the world doesn't end in 2012.


Fleming writes: 

Warner Bro's is now very close to a deal that will give Ron Howard the chance to direct at least the first feature, potentially with Javier Bardem starring as gunslinger Roland Deschain. And Akiva Goldsman (who wrote the script) is producing with Brian Grazer and the author. 

Basically the studio bought Goldsman’s script and are paying him to do a polish. Howard remains attached to direct, likely in first-quarter 2013. Pic is a co-production between Goldsman’s Weed Road and Howard and Grazer’s Imagine. Bardem’s participation would depend upon his availability, but he was firmly attached when the project was at Universal.

Fleming also says, "I’d heard Warner Bros has been interested for some time, and the arrangement with sister studio HBO makes a lot of sense."


Good news for all, isn't it?!  Check out the full article.  The Dark Tower draws ever closer!  Until then, go read The Wind Through The Keyhole.

Howard Still On Track To Direct Tower

The Dark Tower has been on and off the table more times than Carrie has been remade.  Most recently Universal asked that the project be trimmed down, and then they pulled the plug.  Ouch.  HBO seemed poised to take a shot at the tower, but the silence there after would have pleased a world war 2 sub commander.  Nothing.

Howard moved on to other projects and it seemed the tower was going to fade away, or at least that it was not going to be a Ron Howard deal.

However, Fans share posted a twitter recently from Howard that says he plans to and that he "loves" it.

This is from Fans share (HERE)

A fan recently asked Ron Howard on Twitter whether or not he was still looking to direct The Dark Tower and Ron retweeted the message with a response. It read, “@RealRonHoward please answer me do you direct THE DARK TOWER?” I hope and plan to. Love it” The Dark Tower is a fantastic novel and we truly believe that Ron Howard could do The Dark Tower movie justice.

Howard Talks DARK TOWER Movie

Hollywood Reporter has posted an interview with Ron Howard.  The meat of the interview revolves around Howard's current project RUSH.

The Tower still has a hold of Ron Howard's heart. he says he is in love with the material and is "fully committed to it."

The Reporter asked Howard about the future of Dark Tower.  Howard said that work on the script continues as they seek ways to make the budget more "manageable" and "still deliver the work in a way that the project deserves."  That sounds hopeful!

Howard also notes that projects like the Dark Tower often take years to "come together the right way."  Which, again, is exactly what Constant Readers want to hear!  Go ahead, take your time. . . just do it right!

We should note that the books themselves did not come to any of us as quickly as we wanted.  There were long (very long) gaps between each installment.  King was hounded by fans to finish he project.  In the end, he took his time and did it right.  Of course, there were no budget cuts in the novels!

Is Howard Wandering Away From The Tower?

Anthony Breznican at E.W.'s Inside Movie's has an article titled, "Ron Howard sidetracked from 'The Dark Tower' by Formula 1 racer?"  Is Howard losing heart for the Dark Tower?  Missy Davy, Howard's rep, says "The Dark Tower is still on track" for a start early next year. 

more here: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/06/21/ron-howard-rush-dark-tower/

My Choice For Roland

Well, there's a frenzy in Hollywood as Ron Howard seeks to fill the role of the Gunslinger. Who will be the face of Roland for us? I see a lot of suggestions. Of course, I've always had my own version of the crusty, determined, introverted gunslinger. .

.

They'll never cast him, because he's too old and elderly. But you know, they can do some nice things with computers these days. to pull this off would require George Lucas, not Ron Howard. But then, I would have also chosen Lucas to have directed the series. Look, we've learned from Lucas that if he really screws a movie up, he'll just go back and edited it later!

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So my choice is: