The Dark Tower Could Be in Trouble
Posted 05.06.11 by Ryan
The recent "official" casting of Javier Bardem in the role of Roland Deschain for Universal Pictures' upcoming The Dark Tower adaptation seemed like a sign that the studio was forging ahead with a potentially profitable franchise. Based on Stephen King's series of seven novels and a short story (with an eighth novel on the way), The Dark Tower was planned for a trilogy of movies, with two TV series bridging the trilogy, and had Academy Award-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) adapting the first movie and TV series with Academy Award–winner Ron Howard directing at least the first movie and Bardem set to star in all aspects of the franchise.
So, with so many aspects of the Dark Tower already in place, why is Universal second-guessing the entire franchise?
Variety reports that Universal is getting cold feet over The Dark Towers's budget, and may decide to put the project into turnaround, which means that Howard and his Imagine Entertainment production company could try to sell the project to another studio to either take over or partner with Universal.
However, Imagine president Michael Rosenberg,told THR that The Dark Tower is still at Universal. "Dark Tower is not in turnaround," said Rosenberg. "There are issues and on-going budget discussions with almost every film in development."
Meanwhile Deadline reports that Universal has put The Dark Tower's pre-production staff on hiatus until they can figure out a less expensive way to make three movies and two TV series.
Universal scored a huge hit with the just-released Fast Five and last month's Hop, but also released box office bombs like Your Highness and The Dilemma, as well as disappointments like last year's Green Zone and The Wolfman. The end result has left Universal less willing to take on riskier projects with $100 million dollar budgets.
The Dark Tower may be just too ambitious for the Universal, with the studio recently rejecting the $150-million-budgeted, R-rated At the Mountains of Madness, despite the pedigree of director Guillermo del Toro, producer James Cameron, and the interest of Tom Cruise in playing the lead role.
Both THR and Deadline agree that Warner Bros. could be a potential suitor for the project, should Universal put the project into turnaround, which so far they are denying. One thing's for sure, The Dark Tower's May 17, 2013, release date is in jeopardy.