Stephen King's THE DARK TOWER Coming to Film, TV

People who know me also know that I am a HUGE fan of the work of horror writer Stephen King. Pretty much every work King has written has a place on my bookshelf.

I was excited to hear through the StephenKing.com newsletter that Academy Award-winners Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer will produce three films and a TV series based on Kings epic storyline, The Dark Tower.

On September 8, Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman Donna Langley — along with Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC & Universal Media Studios — announced that Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have acquired the rights to produce three films and a television series based on the seven novels, short stories and Marvel comic books telling the story of The Dark Tower.  

Ron Howard will direct the first film and the first season of television, which will be written by Goldsman.

Goldsman will produce the film through his Weed Road Pictures with Howard and Grazer for Imagine Entertainment.  Howard, Grazer and Goldsman will executive produce the television series for Universal Media Studios.  Kerry Foster will executive produce the first film for Weed Road Pictures along with Todd Hallowell and Erica Huggins for Imagine Entertainment.   

"I’ve been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world," said King.  "Ron, Akiva, Brian along with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the The Dark Tower series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the origins and the characters in The Dark Tower that fans have come to love."

The Dark Tower is Stephen King’s opus of seven bestselling novels with, to date, more than 30 million copies sold in 40 countries.  The novels incorporate themes from multiple genres including fantasy, science fiction, horror and adventure.

After the series was completed, a prequel of comic books based on one of the characters was also published.

"Building a franchise home for The Dark Tower is an exciting opportunity for this studio, and we're thrilled that Stephen has entrusted us to bring his beloved novels to the big screen," said Fogelson.

"Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who creates imaginary worlds that resonate with the broadest audiences across ages and demographics," said Gaspin.  "We are thrilled to partner with our colleagues in the film division and Brian, Ron and Akiva to bring Stephen's vision to the largest audience possible through this innovative multi-platform collaboration." 

Howard, Grazer and Goldsman are planning for the first film in the trilogy to be immediately followed by a television series that will bridge the second film.  After the second film, the television series will pick up allowing viewers to explore the adventures of the protagonist as a young man as a bridge to the third film and beyond.
 
"We are excited to have found partners at Universal who understand and embrace our approach to King's remarkable epic," said Howard.  "By using both the scope and scale of theatrical film-making and the intimacy of television we hope to more comprehensively do justice to the characters, themes and amazing sequences King has given us in The Dark Tower novels.  It might be the challenge of a lifetime but clearly a thrilling one to take on and explore."

"The worlds of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series are richly detailed, inter-locking and deeply connected," said Goldsman.  "By telling this story across media platforms and over multiple hours—and with a view to telling it completely — we have our best chance of translating Roland's quest to reach The Dark Tower onto screen.  We are proceeding with tremendous excitement, fidelity to the source material and, quite frankly, no small amount of awe at this opportunity."

"King has created the most visually enthralling places and characters in The Dark Tower," said Grazer.  "The synergy created across all the media divisions of our partners at NBC Universal to tell this remarkable story is ground-breaking and invigorating.  This project will be one of the most exciting and challenging that I will have ever worked on and I am thrilled to be a part of it."

Let's toast Gunslinger Roland and The Dark Tower project with a swig of real coffee and Nozz-a-la cola!

— Janet Hetherington