Roland Deschain and producer Ron Howard have hit yet another bump on the road to "The Dark Tower."
The proposed multi-platform adaptation of Stephen King's saga has never suffered from a lack of ambition, but now it is in desperate need of funding. According to a Variety report, Warner Bros., the second studio to consider the project after Universal passed, has turned it down.
The sprawling epic would play out over three films and two intermediate seasons of television, most likely for HBO. After Universal passed, WB voiced budget concerns and one-time attached star Javier Bardem exited, there has not been much good news for "The Dark Tower," but hope may not be lost just yet.
Following up the news of the Warner Bros. pass on "The Dark Tower," Deadline reported that Media Rights Capital, the company that backed Seth MacFarlane's "Ted," is in "serious talks" to take on the project. It just so happens that MRC's Modi Wiczyk loves the King books. The company has taken on other ambitious projects recently, funding Neill Blomkamp's "Elysium."
If the MRC deal is a "serious" as Deadline says it is, "The Dark Tower" may still have some life left in it, but with so many hiccups and passes, an actual greenlight for the three films and two seasons of TV seem less and less likely. We much as we'd love to see this one go through, we're won't be holding our breath.
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