It’s been quite a long time since one of Stephen King’s works created so much buzz. That could be attributed to the grand scale of his latest on screen project which was announced last year in collaboration with Ron Howard. The duo plan to bring King’s sprawling eight book Dark Tower series to the big AND small screen via planned trilogy of films and three additional television miniseries set after each film.
That is all common knowledge but now just announced: Javier Bardem takes on a large commitment by signing onto the projects as the lead protagonist of the books, playing ‘gunslinger’ Roland Deschain. Bardem’s name was bandied about since its inception but chatter quickly increased in the last few weeks resulting in not much of a surprise to many about the announcement. The New York Post reportedly quotes a source as saying “It’s an enormous deal for any actor, but Bardem was always the first choice.” and provides further confirmation that “Bardem has signed on to the first movie and the miniseries, but the intention is that he will star in all three movies and each of the TV series.”
The story of the Dark Tower series follows Roland Deschain, the last of the ‘gunslingers’, in a magical Old-West landscape on the road to find the Dark Tower in order to save civilization.
Ron Howard is at the helm to direct the production of the first film, expected to begin in September for a 2012 or 2013 rollout.