Universal Won't Scale Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower;' Studio Declines To Make Ambitious Trilogy And TV Series

18 July 2011 4:09 PM, PDT | Deadline New York | See recent Deadline New York news »

Exclusive: The moment has come for Universal Pictures to fish or cut bait on The Dark Tower, the ultra-ambitious adaptation of the Stephen King 7-novel series that was going to encompass a trilogy of feature films and two limited run TV series. The studio has said, No Thanks. Universal has passed on going forward with the project, dealing a huge blow in the plan for Ron Howard to direct Akiva Goldsman's script, with Brian Grazer, Goldsman and the autor producing and Javier Bardem starring as gunslinger Roland Deschain. Now, the filmmakers will have to find a new backer of what might well be the most ambitious movie project since Bob Shaye allowed Peter Jackson to shoot three installments of The Lord of the Rings back to back. This stunning development comes after Universal in May pushed plans to start production this summer on the first film. The studio claimed »

- MIKE FLEMING

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