Earlier this month Deadline reported Universal had placed the pre-production staff on hiatus for Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman, and Brian Grazer’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. At that time, Deadline said the plan to start filming the first movie this September was scraped due to concerns over the cost of the three movies bridged by seasons of a television show, all starring Javier Bardem as Roland. Now, thankfully, The Hollywood Reporter says the project hasn’t been scraped entirely:
Insiders say the end result is that Goldsman is now rewriting the script to reflect a lower price point. No start date has been given although it will certainly not be the fall. What that does to the involvement of Javier Bardem, who was attached to star in the first movie and the first TV arc, is unclear. [THR via /film]
Hopefully he’s still attached ’cause he’s awesome, but if he must go and they’re looking for an inexpensive replacement, I know of a couple gunslingers who work cheap:
These guys will do any show you want for a few belly rubs and the address to the nearest cathouse.