Russell Crowe in Talks to Star in ‘The Dark Tower’… If WB Greenlights It
The adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower has been on a roller coaster ride as director Ron Howard and scribe Akiva Goldsman are struggling to get the film greenlighted. As you may remember, the project stalled last summer as Universal balked at the risk of financing a costly undertaking that would have spanned a movie trilogy as well as a TV series. Not all was lost though as Howard and Goldsman took their pitch to Warner Brothers which is now coming upon an imminent decision on whether to turn the lights back on.
First of all, Deadline reports that Russell Crowe is in discussion to take on the role of protagonist Roland Deschain, now that Javier Bardem has dropped out of the picture. We also have word that WB has to make a decision within the next two weeks as Goldsman recently turned in a new draft of The Dark Tower script. No doubt, Crowe is a more appealing option than Bardem box office-wise and the leading man change will factor in the studio’s decision.
What’s apparent is that Warner Bros. has banked a lot of money over the past few years with the worldwide success of Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. But these franchise have come to their conclusion and there is no doubt that the studio is actively searching for their next big breadwinner. Is The Dark Tower a good option for a franchise?
The sprawling adventures of Roland Deschain spawn seven novels so there is more than enough substance for a big movie franchise. Moreover, the distopian setting and the blend of sci-fi, fantasy and western certainly will intrigue the masses and rile up the built-in fanbase of the novels. But what do YOU think? Should Russell Crowe play Deschain? Are you a fan of The Dark Tower?
10 Comments
As a big fan of the books (the first five books), I think Crowe would be a great choice to play The Gunslinger, definitely better than Bardem, in my opinion had the film got made with Bardem, it would’ve been a disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bardem as an actor but he’s totally wrong for this role. Also, I’m still worry about Howard directing this series, he’s a good director but this material is not right for him. Since the way The Dark Tower series ended kind of similar to (SPOILER ALERT)…
Memento, I think Nolan would be a great director to work on this project.
I’m actually hoping they don’t do a direct page for page adaptation, it just won’t work and hope they totally forget the last two books. I don’t know what King was thinking when he wrote the last two books, they were stinking pile of shit, I actually stopped reading King’s work after the last Dark Tower book. I can’t believe he shit over the series that I’ve been following for years. Yeah I’m still piss off about it.
Yea it was odd that they chose Bardem when the project was at Universal. Crowe is definitely much more marketable so I think this will push the project over the top.
I really need to read the novels!
The first 5 books were great but again King decided to shit all over his own work with the last two books. It took me months just finish the last one because by then I was so pissed at King and I just didn’t care how the story will end. I actually liked how he ended this long saga but what happened before that moment really ruined it for me.
I do recommend you read them and you might like the last two books but just be warn, you might be as upset as I was when you start on book 6 and 7.
Ok I look forward to reading book 1-5 ahah
Wondering if this one will actually take off this time around. Although, I’m not sure how I feel about Crowe in the lead. We’ve seen him as a gunslinger a few times that it seems a little redundant. (3:10 to Yuma, The Quick and the Dead, Man with the Iron Fists) I dunno. Maybe that’s just me. It’s too easy. I’d like to see someone else do it. perhaps.
Like who?
I really don’t know. I was thinking about this again earlier today. perhaps McConaughey with the darker roles he’s been able to pull off lately, or Jon Hamm, or maybe I’d even go for Tom Hardy. Nathan Fillion is too easy of a choice possibly, but I’d prefer to see him over Crowe.
Hey T., I assume you’ve read the books right? My choice for Roland would be Clive Owen, he’s a perfect description of what King described in the books, well until book 6 when he sort of described the character in more details that really pissed me off.
I always wanted Crowe to play Roland’s nemesis, the man in black Randall Flagg. Check him out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Flagg
But I really like Crowe as Roland too.
Clive Owen is a great choice. I agree. and, if done correctly, it would bring him back to the forefront of good roles and stories (one would hope). He’s been in some pretty sad choices of films lately IMO.
Crowe as Flagg is a sweet idea. but, alas, the filmmakers never ask us in the blog/movielover community…
I’ve been hearing about for years but will Ron Howard ever get another screenwriter to work with? Akiva Goldsman is a hack.
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